Update -- Pedestrian Safety on Cottage in the Rain
Pedestrian safety has long been something of a cruel joke along the north side of Cottage Way from Butano to Cottage Park at Morse. The public controversy over the Anton Butano low-income apartments shined a light on the issue when people objected to the claim that the area was "pedestrian- friendly" and the County Supervisor blurted out something about putting a sidewalk there. Eventually the County created a fake sidewalk by placing an asphalt berm along Cottage Way between Butano and Trimble where there had previously only been a drainage ditch (there is still no sidewalk between Trimble and the park, a route where pedestrians have worn a path along a homeowner's front yard). However, the County's design for the stretch between Trimble and Butano has proven to have some challenges. The recent rainstorm highlighted yet another concern, one relayed via a Facebook post today that included the photo shown below and stated: “Dear County Supervisor Susan Peters: Thank you so much for the lap pool. Sure, the neighborhood begged for a sidewalk, but in your wisdom you realized we were unworthy of such a monumental improvement and you gave us a trench instead. It's filling up nicely thanks to the rain.” And someone pointed out, in a comment on the Facebook post, that the design does "save rainwater for the drought". Would it be best to think of this situation as being like early-release software, which has "features" instead of defects?
![road](https://streamline.imgix.net/60a89d4d-b7fd-43d0-beac-2dfd4c3a950d/04f70439-9734-48a3-926d-9c40780de18a/FakeSidewalk_Rain.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&w=2000&h=2000&fit=max&or=0&s=5fa0fb2f891f0e44ae44408229fcea81)