A Small Pedestrian Victory
Friday night last week I was out later than usual. After getting a veggie hot dog from Sam at Hot City Franks at 13th & Washington I started to head home. At 16th I ran into a friend who was walking home to 10th Street. It was around 11:45pm so I decided to escort her home.
On 10th Street at St. Charles Street I spotted this Chevy in front of a fire hydrant. While that is upsetting I was more upset by this car on St. Charles Street:
This Dodge was parked in the crosswalk and blocking the ADA curb cut. I’ve blogged about cars blocking this ramp before. It was now midnight and I call the police non-emergency number. They had bigger issues to deal with on a Friday night. As I sit there I realize that drivers may not realize the crosswalk exists. The curb is faded yellow and the crosswalk is unmarked.
So from this spot at 12:05am I email the above photo to a trio of city officials to get some resolution. I sent it to David Newburger, Commissioner on the Disabled, Todd Waeltermann, Director of Streets and Phyllis Young, Alderman for this ward (7th). Newburger & Waeltermann both replied Saturday morning with Young replying on Monday morning.
Last night, less than a week later I pass by the same intersection and I’m pleased to see my requested crosswalk stripes. Around the corner is a “no parking here to corner” sign as well. So kudos to David Newburger, Phyllis Young and especially Todd Waeltermann for getting my requested solution completed.
Now I need to get this trio onto the problem one block West at 11th Street:
At this intersection a block away the crosswalk has two issues. 1) like the other it is not marked and 2) the near curb lacks a curb cut, eliminating the East side of 11th as a viable route for me.
I think to get action it is always a good idea to report a problem to more than one person. In this case the three all knew the other two were aware of the same problem. Many would have placed a phone call to the Alderman during the week but I think by going directly to the persons involved in a solution but making the elected representative aware helped speed up the fix. Had I placed a phone call to Phyllis Young we probably would have played phone tag a few times, it would have been hard to verbalize the issue and then she would have had to turn around and do the same with others. So before you pick up the telephone to contact your Alderman about a problem try contacting the department and/or Citizens Service Bureau by email, preferably with a picture of the problem. Copy the appropriate Alderman on the correspondence so they are aware of the issue and request for service but the responsibility for action falls to a city staff person.
– Steve Patterson
Other cities have gone to a 311 system, where a single number serves as a one-stop clearinghouse for concerns like this – might be something the CSB could adapt. If so, Pittsburgh just rolled a cool I phone app that makes using 311 even easier: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09230/991552-53.stm
A similar traffic safety, restriping improvement was just made at the blind intersection at Macklind and Neosho in South City.
Neighbors complained on their listserve about being unable to see oncoming cars due to vehicles parking so close to the intersection. Now the corners have been marked “no parking”, and the area striped to make a clear view for drivers entering the intersection.
Little things make a big difference. What other little things can we do?
Thank you for making a point to praise quick response to a real solution. We’re all so predisposed to ragging on the aldermen for what they DON’T do, yet seldom “gold star” them for the positive actions they push through. Maybe if we praised as much as we complained, the relationship between alder and citizen wouldn’t feel so abusive for either side.
Outstanding!!
Sweet action! Hey Southside Neighbor, are you aware of any neighbors complaining about the intersection at Macklind and Finkman (by Onesto)? I’d like to see no parking allowed on those 4 corners as well.
Good, it’s about time “blogging pays” become reality. JZ’s mention of the use of cell phones to notify those in power to address these obvious problems should be a public website so everyone can access, and assign value to public service.
I just heard that on Denver’s 311 system you can sign up to receive text messages reminding you of street sweeping (so you won’t get ticketed) – cool!
Bravo. Now can you get me some bike lanes for my daily ride to work?
9th and Clark also badly needs crosswalk stripes and pedestrian walk signals. It’s a 5 way intersection with a freeway off ramp and is very confusing to pedestrians.
Nice work — it’s great to hear city officials providing quick and real solutions. Keep those wheels squeaking, Steve!
Good for you! I saw that paint today! Although there was a car parked in the way. I would have taken a picture of it if I had an iPhone.
ADA ramps eliminated for the New 64? No doubt Steve, one small step forward, two steps back. Between Aviation Field and the re-designed golf course in Forest Park (our “green” space), the ADA ramps have been removed and replaced with curbs on both sides of Clayton Drive. Also removed are the STOP signs and the bike path. You get two lines painted while a pedestrian crossing, ADA ramps, STOP signs and a bike path are removed. The additional traffic on Clayton Dr. is facilitated in order to keep the public’s opinion of the New 64 as positive as possible. The Lou Gap (Potential v. Reality) widens.