Recently, my husband drew my attention to the fact that some sidewalk had just been marked with spray paint by a city employee. I looked over in that direction – the east side of the 400 block of Regent Street – and immediately knew which bit of walk it was. It’s a spot where two slabs have subsided where they meet, leaving a V-shaped valley. It has been a hazard to me on my frequent walks around here because it fills with mud in the summer and ice in the winter and in both conditions it has been the cause of my slipping more than once.

It would be nice to think that the spray paint markings mean that the walk is slated to be replaced soon. In my experience, that is not necessarily true. Often they seem to paint trip hazards just to make them visible, without actually doing anything to rectify them. I’m sure it’s on a list to deal with eventually, but “eventually” can be a long time.

I am a little surprised to see it marked, though, because there are a lot worse sidewalks in the area for being trip hazards. The street trees have heaved up blocks of cement in countless places around the east side and I’ve taken hard falls from tripping on them at night more times than I care to remember.