OPINION: “Spiked” cobblestones at Market Basket intersection a good idea

What do you think of this effort to deter panhandlers? From a fan on our Facebook page:

“So happy they finally put these in at the Market Basket lights! Now they need to do the other side.” – Jennifer Lincoln‎.

Three New Bedford City Councilors disagreed when the “spiked” cobblestones were first placed at the “octopus” intersection. In may, New Bedford City Councilors Hugh Dunn, Ian Abreu, and Maria Giesta sent a strongly worded letter to Mayor Jon Mitchell regarding the “dangerous and malicious placement of spiked cobblestones median at the entry of our City is wrong.”

The letter can be read here.

The mayor’s office responded in may that “the improved median strip is intended to address an increasingly dangerous situation where people walking along the median have put both themselves and motorists at risk.”