Eyes on the Street

Eyes on the Street: Permanent Bumpout Completed at Locke and Herkimer

This is the successful end of a long and hard fight for a safer intersection.

By Kevin Love
Published October 18, 2016

Good news! The bump-out at Herkimer and Locke that was under construction last weekis now complete.

Completed bumpout at Herkimer and Locke
Completed bumpout at Herkimer and Locke

This is the successful end of a long and hard fight for a safer intersection. This struggle has been extensively documented on Raise the Hammer.

The inner infrastructure standards guy in me notes that this would be even better with a "floating" safety island with the bike lane going through it, as is common in The Netherlands. This would be most important for people turning left onto Herkimer from Locke Street, as they would have that concrete island between themselves and motor vehicle traffic.

But, as the saying goes, the perfect is the enemy of the good. Compared to what we had before, this new intersection is very good!

Kevin is a professional accountant and a retired infantry officer with the Canadian Forces. Kevin keeps encountering people who were students of his father, Dr. Robert Love, who was a professor at MacMaster University from 1977-2008. He lives near Durand Park in Hamilton and is currently Vice-Chair of the Hamilton Cycling Committee.

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By GrapeApe (registered) | Posted October 18, 2016 at 16:59:08

While I agree that perfect should not be the enemy of good -- does any one else find it unacceptable that a brand new concrete pour must be immediately patched with asphalt to make it safe and accessible?

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By JasonL (registered) | Posted October 18, 2016 at 18:55:58 in reply to Comment 120283

was wondering the same thing. How hard is it to ramp the concrete right to road level?

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By ergopepsi (registered) | Posted October 18, 2016 at 22:16:15 in reply to Comment 120283

Since they can only cut asphalt in straight lines there were bound to be gaps between the concrete and the road. They also need room for the mold. Too bad they couldn't smooth the patch out a bit more though. Looks like they bought bags from home depot and flattened it with shovels.

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By GrapeApe (registered) | Posted October 19, 2016 at 07:56:49 in reply to Comment 120285

I appreciate that gaps need filled, but it looks more like ramps to cover the fact they would have an unacceptable lip that people would trip on and wheelchairs could not cross without assistance.

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