Crosswalks & Curb Ramps Needed at 4th & Locust
Pedestrians trying to cross 4th Street at Locust face an interesting combination of ramps and signals. Â Neither side has a marked crosswalk. Â On the north side of Locust there is an older ramp on the east side of 4th but when the St. Louis Federal Reserve didn’t bother to include a ramp on the west side.
The south side of Locust has the opposite problem, a ramp on the west side but not one on the east.  This side, however, does include a pedestrian signal.  However, a crosswalk is badly  needed here because motorists on the one-way street don’t know where to stop when they get a red light.  This is a dangerous intersection for the able-bodied pedestrian and impossible for the disabled pedestrian.
St. Louis vacated Locust between 4th & Broadway (5th) but nobody ensured that pedestrians could get to/from this one-block pedestrianized street.
– Steve Patterson
i do agree the city needs to make the streets safe for all citizens; which then i started to see what the process would be to fix this curb issue a small, but important, on the scale of city projects.
in this case since this was a federal project; which apparently is not completed – (curbs / ramps not constructed) probably an oversight, but now the city wants it fixed. the city could use their workforce (street dept.) to repair this and may be the top 10 problem spots in the city / downtown. after completing these projects the federal gov't and any other company and who ever else can be invoiced for the repairs / completion of project. this would be a win win win – people working, strong show of support for pedestrians, and the city is compensated at least keeping the books even. there are 4 months before any outdoor projects can begin – lets get the plan started now for this spring / summer. the city has all the required parts they just need to put it into motion. easy to say hard to do. but the process has to start sometime.
Agreed. I can keep pointing out the many oversights but it would be much easier if the city paid attention to walkability & accessibility are projects are being planned. If we want a more vibrant downtown, and city, we must focus on being pedestrian-friendly.
Sending an invoice and getting paid are two different things, especially if you didn't agree to the work in the first place. In reality, these are city problems on the city right-of-way that need to be funded out of the city budget.
Two points. One getting a crosswalk, or even just a vehicle stop line, painted is doable and cheap. The real challenge is getting drivers to pay attention, to both the need to stop and the proper place to do so. Paint helps, but it doesn't guarantee safety, although it does raise the perception of greater safety.
Two, having the city react to individual citizen complaints on an intersection-by-intersection basis is highly inefficient. While it will never happen, implementing a plan where two or three wards get ALL of their intersections upgraded to contemporary standards would fix the problem citywide in 10 or 15 years. The problem is that some wards will have to wait 10 or 15 years.
The only two other options are passing a citywide bond issue to complete the work in 3-5 years, or, more likely, doing what we do now, a little bit here and a little bit there, for the next 50 years . . . .
The Federal Reserve, when it was pouring concrete, should have provided a ramp across from the existing ramp. Where was the oversight by the city? In agreeing to vacate a city block there should have been provisions in place to ensure pedestrians could still cross the street. The city failed big time!
I agree, completely. I'm pretty sure the city has an ADA overseer (who apparently was left out of the loop during this review and approval process); maybe the city needs a pedestrian guru, as well: http://www.denvergov.org/TabId/395511/default.aspx
Yes, the city needs a pedestrian advocate to ensure that as public & private work is done that it improves the pedestrian experience throughout the city.
As JZ71 pointed out, getting drivers to pay attention to cross walk stripes is a problem in addition to just getting the stripes on the pavement. I am constantly blocked by drivers who pull out onto the cross walks. Drivers are usually somewhat abashed when you either stand next to the driver in the crosswalk waiting for them to pull forward or you walk in front of the car and they realize they are blocking the crosswalk. I think most drivers just don't consider that there might be pedestrians.