Three cheers for the new downtown Winslow. The new wider sidewalks are a major plus and the soon to come plantings and water features will make downtown Winslow exceptional.

Yes, it took longer than planned. Yes, it was a dirt pot-holed, suspension-busting road for far too long. Yes, there are telephone poles in the middle of the sidewalks. And Yes, some of the planter boxes are a bit of a parking hazard.

Let me take these caveats one by one.

It is a rare project these days that gets done on time and on budget. Finding contaminated dirt caused a bit of a delay.

Also in hindsight the city should have added a bigger monetary penalty for a late finish, but then again that might have resulted in a higher contractor bid.

As for the traffic disruption and rough dirt road, this was always going to be a problem. The alternative would have been full closure of the road for a shorter period of time, say two months.

However, this would have resulted in a great new downtown surrounded by the empty storefronts of businesses that failed for lack of customers. Any time you redo a street and still allow traffic, it’s a messy affair.

The telephone poles in the sidewalk on the north side of Winslow Way are obstacles that have to be avoided. However, they were an even bigger hindrance with narrow sidewalks.

The city did not have the money that putting the wires underground would have required. This will always be an opportunity missed, but I didn’t have an extra million to bury the lines and neither did the city.

The low-lying planters as parking hazards is a problem that will go away when planting of trees, bushes and plants will make them more visible.

As a Winslow resident who mostly walks to downtown, I appreciate the wider sidewalks. I also appreciate the subliminal message that pedestrians are more important than cars.

In past weeks I’ve been able to: walk side by side with my wife without having to go single file when meeting someone going the opposite direction; shop at a real sidewalk sale; enjoy a white table dinner on main street itself; and sip a coffee under an umbrella in the plaza between Blackbird Bakery and Dana’s Show House.

I look forward to the landscaping and water features.

It will put a nice polish on Winslow as one of the last of that rare breed – a small, pedestrian-friendly town that didn’t sell its soul to the almighty auto.

Ubiquitous car-oriented malls at High School Road and Silverdale are available for those who find fault with the new Winslow.

Gary Pettersen, Bainbridge Island