The Curb to Nowhere

I live in a “bedroom community” of Washington, DC called Falls Church, Virginia. George Washington helped found the old Church here, from which it got half of its name. The other half came from the fact that the little town that grew up around the church was the closest to the lesser of the two falls on the Potomac river. The other one is called (surprise, surprise) Great Falls…and that’s a town too.

But, I digress. Being so close to Washington, its residents are mostly government workers.
I’m one of the few exceptions; but I’ve known for a long time, and you probably do too, that Government doesn’t think like we do. And neither do their employees who over the years have burrowed their way into every nook and cranny of the powerful agencies.
They are the soldiers of the bureaucracy.

And, of course, our city leaders come from this “talent” pool.
I’m fortunate enough to be able to ignore most of their bazaar schemes for this little city, but one I can’t ignore has recently popped up on a street between my house and the Post Office.
I call it the “Curb to Nowhere.”

A number of “unenlightened” residents like myself don’t understand what it's for, and why it is where it is. A number of residents have indeed  had at least one unfortunate encounter with it. (The city only recently put up the “obstacle warning.”)

Perhaps there’s someone in this website’s vast audience who can enlighten me.
The class member with the best explanation will win an all expense paid trip
“to nowhere.”

-Ed