I’ve been walking past the spot every day for over four years and I first identified it as a splash hazard for walkers on a rainy day.

No big surprise there since walking along Veteran’s Memorial Boulevard is a splash hazard generally, although most of that hazard exists across the boulevard in front of the Fairgrounds, as opposed to this one located along the fence line of Queen Elizabeth Public School.  The one in front of the Fairgrounds is significant and runs continuously for maybe twenty yards or so.  If you keep your wits about you while walking on that side of the road, you can navigate the hazard without getting drenched, although there is the occasional need for a bit of a sprint to get ahead of traffic approaching from the Hall/Raglan intersection.

The one in front of QEPS is more sharp, smaller in area than its cousin across the street, but definitely more of a jarring experience for motorists as it makes up for its lack of size with some depth.  Currently, the Town of Renfrew employs all manner of tools and practices to manage this “bump,” which is actually more of a short, sharp depression.  Nevertheless, as I walked, and as I drove, I noticed that motorists familiar with its presence would employ strategies of their own, chief among them swinging precipitously into the other lane, other motorists be damned.