[frankbreetz]

What is the alternative? Sometimes you must close a road or sidewalk in order to perform maintenance. This is an out of touch stance.

[data_spy]

The alternative, the business pays a fee per day for lane and sidewalk closures. I guarantee they will close the lanes and sidewalks less often and for shorter durations.

[burkaman]

This is already how it works. Also, in the process of applying for a permit, the city will make sure your construction plan is reasonable and you're doing everything you can to minimize impact to the public. I think anywhere in the world with a functioning local government will be similar.

[bhickey]

> anywhere in the world with a functioning local government will be similar.

Boston does not have a functioning local government. A developer in my old neighborhood blocked a sidewalk for three years without a permit. Public works issued them one $50 fine. The same developer also abandoned the site in an effort to pressure the zoning board to allow them to add floors to their plan.

[notJim]

Most places in the US do not have functioning governments, to be fair, including at the national level.

[undfg]

I don't know how it is where you live, but that's the way it works here. You pay a daily fee.

[bombcar]

Because the fee isn't paid to them they don't notice or care.

Much of the "solutions" provided for apparent existing problems already exist. Some kind of analogy to the Dunning-Kreuger effect is going on - any problem I don't understand is simple.