What I see here is an unimaginative band-aid solution.

If this was a privately funded volunteer effort, I would be extremely grateful that someone took their own time and money to resolve an issue. But, we’re talking about a taxpayer funded city department. It’s great that someone within that department felt that this problem should be resolved but that doesn’t mean the chosen resolution is beyond reproach.

As far as concrete barriers go, we already have some of those on Kelly Drive, most notably along the Grandstand stretch near the John B. Kelly statue. Adding additional barriers would obviously be more expensive than running some rope along the road but by offering universities, companies, and community organizations the opportunity to “sponsor” stretches of the barrier you can offset a good chunk of the cost while also combating the graffiti that easily accessible concrete invariably attracts. What that would look like is a bigger question but luckily we have a wonderful Mural Arts program in the city that can handle the creative portion of the process. I’m fairly certain a good chunk of the new murals being painted are in-part sponsored by corporations and individuals.

My point with all this isn’t to say that we need to browbeat city departments every time they try to do something. There are clearly a million issues to tackle and a limited budget to do so. But, that doesn’t mean we have to avoid voicing dissatisfaction when a solution comes up very short of the target. Looking at that rope “fence” I can’t help but feel that it’s an ineffective solve that will not serve as much of a deterrent and will:

At best, require very regular maintenance and repair

Or

At worst, be broken quickly and forgotten about.