What is a sneckdown?!
We’re glad you asked! After a snowfall, curb extensions caused by snowfalls, otherwise known as sneckdowns, appear. The photo below, by Ben Wedge, reveals how and where pedestrians and vehicles use a roadway in winter in Halifax, NS. All of the white areas of the roads that are unused by vehicles are sneckdowns.
What they tell us
Sneckdowns tell us how we actually use our street spaces. Winter provides us with a unique opportunity to look at our city, get creative, and reimagine it. What can we do with all that space that vehicles really don’t need? Where can we extend the curbs and add pedestrian islands to make navigating our streets safer for pedestrians? Where can we add separated bike lanes?
Explore possibilities
We love this gif created by folks at pilsēta cilvēkiem in Latvia. (Their name means City People.) Have a look, then go out and explore your neighbourhood with a new winter lens.