Earlier this year, my city of New Westminster did some work on Columbia Street. It is a main route for commuters and suffers from very high traffic volumes. The work did decrease the number of lanes and added dedicated bicycle lanes. Back-in parking was added. More importantly, larger curbs were installed. I wish, however, the Engineering Department had shown a little creativity and made an effort to 'green' the area rather than just adding so much white concrete. The Hyack Square renovation suffers from the same over application of cement. I realize brick or cobblestone walkways may be an impediment for the handicapped, yet large expanses of boring cement are both unattractive and heat-trapping. Traffic has been calmed but the aesthetic value of downtown has not been much improved. Anyway, that is water beneath the bridge. I will probably not live long enough to witness the next round of downtown
revitalization. I have found something else to complain about though.
Now these ugly signboards sit on the south-west corner of Sixth and Columbia. It's nice that we spent a lot of tax dollars to make larger curb areas. It's not so nice that they only provide more space for ugly advertising. Last night, I emailed the photo above to the Paul Daminato, the City Administrator to complain. I already got a response this morning that he'd have staff look into the matter.
