Jay Honeck wrote:

These chicanes were asphalt blockades, essentially, put in every couple
of hundred yards, forcing traffic to make a sharp swerve to the left or
right, in an effort to slow people down.

I just purchased a newly built house, and while it was being finalized,
asked the builder why they made the road a one lane road right in front
of my house (not in front of the driveway portion, but the house
portion). His reply was the same, the city made him put it in to slow
traffic down the street. (This is in the middle of a long dead-end
street).

It give my house a nice sweeping curve for the front lawn, but I know
I'll be replacing mailboxes, when someone coming home late at night
doesnt decide to slow down and runs over my mailbox.

So far (7 months) no issues. But I know its only a matter of time.
The chicanes would have just been nuts though. I can imagine someone
plowing into one at high speed and that would be all she wrote.

Brian