Sidewalk Closed, Use Other Side of Street
We’ve all run into a closed sidewalk before. Well, at least those of us that live in places with sidewalks. Most of us have been detoured before — forced to cross the street to keep heading in the direction we were headed.
Last night after leaving City Grocers at 10th & Olive I wanted to go East on Olive, in my power wheelchair. Drats, the sidewalk on the South side of the street is closed:
And so is the sidewalk on North Side of Olive:
Most folks could simply walk around the barrier but in a wheelchair that isn’t an option. One option would be to ride in the street and take the next curb ramp to get back on the sidewalk – not exactly safe during the day and worse at night. Or, convince myself that I really didn’t want to go East after all. I chose the latter and went North on 10th to get to Washington Ave to head West to get back to my place at 16th.
I’ve accepted that in the chair I’m going to encounter missing, difficult or even blocked curb ramps. Sidewalks will be closed due to construction – even though the ADA says the route is to remain open. What caught me off guard was having both sides of the street closed simultaneously. The second one on the North side of the street is very temporary — a bit of concrete was poured on the corner earlier in the day.
As downtown gets more pedestrians we need to ensure that different contractors pay attention to each other and leave one route open. Removing barriers as soon as the concrete is set enough is another solution. Making pedestrian friendly neighborhoods requires making sure pedestrians can get from A to B.
Umm . . . don’t they need a permit from the city to close the sidewalk? The left hand not knowing what the right hand’s doing? This is exactly the type of thing guvmint is supposed to be regulating, with some intelligence involved!
I’m with Jim. I put some onus on the city for this one unless the cops will be out writing citations for closed sidewalks and no permit.
Actually, when I have designed large projects downtown involving sidewalk closures the city was very insistent that both pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow be maintained and did so in a very coordinated manor with the bigger picture in mind. Balancing the needs of cars, pedestrians, and construction in a tight urban environment is not rocket science but does require compromise on all parts. The contractor is going to try to get as much as they can but the city does a pretty good job of making sure everyone’s needs are met. I think this instance is just a matter of a contractor acting without thought. Better that this situation is caused by successful development and not neglect. Luckily, this is a very short-term inconvenience and there are multiple routes to most destinations.
MoDOT and gateway Contractors have closed sidewalks along Brentwood Blvd and other areas since the project started. So far numerous sidewalks have been kept closed for over a year as you well know. The remaining sidewalks are filled with construction dirt and often debris. The accepted sign: SIDEWALK CLOSED. USE DETOUR. In some areas, there are no sidewalk on the other side of the street.
Problems like these really point out how we should look at making our cities more pedestrian friendly. We should start by looking at if the street/sidewalk/plaza er whatever is ADA friendly, and are the sidewalks passable for those in wheelchairs. I say this not just because Steve is coming at it from this angle but from watching meetings here in Milwaukee regarding snow removal. Our sidewalks become nearly impassable for many people, be it the elderly, disabled or anyone else, so if we set the standard so that everyone needs to be able to get through then it is better for everyone..
(sorry if rambling… )