Bollards Needed to Protect Pedestrian Route Into Omni Majestic Hotel on Pine Street
I’m used to building entrances being oriented to auto driveways, such is the case at the Omni Majestic Hotel at 1019 Pine St. This hotel does have a pedestrian sidewalk to get from the public sidewalk to the entrance.
The design flaw is that it’s too easily overtaken by vehicles and used as additional parking, as happened on the morning of February 12th when I attended a breakfast meeting in the restaurant off the lobby.
This SUV was here when I arrived and when I left an hour later. Though the driveway and sidewalk are different colors, the fact they are level encourages drivers to park here.
A couple of tasteful bollards are needed to keep the walkway open, a link to this post will be sent to the Omni.
— Steve Patterson
Re: blocking the emergency exit. Call the CSB. Or, better yet, call the Fire Marshall directly. They don’t eff around with this stuff. Maybe you could also find the name of their insurance carrier…then call the management of the hotel, and tell them you called the Fire Marshall and their insurance carrier. At the very least, you can derive some enjoyment over hearing the jerk squirm. Hell, the ExceSUV is probably the manager’s. Oh, sure, maybe they’ll move some cars for a day or three. But after that, back to parking on sidewalks. I called the police and CSB on firefighters parking their vehicles on the Potomac St. sidewalk, @ S. Grand, near Gravois, in addition to telling them directly to stop parking on the sidewalk. I’ve noticed that this happens with great rarity now.
It is not a public sidewalk nor is it a fire lane. Do you see it marked as such? Just because there are two different colored cememts does not make it a sidewalk. And is that exit marked as an emergency exit? I see no signage indicating such.
Sure it’s not public property but it is clearly the intended path that the public is supposed to take into the building. Parking land yachts on the sidewalk creates a situation where by it is possible that, when other automobiles pull up to load/unload, the entrance to the building would be blocked. If you have two good legs this might not seem like a problem to you. For those with mobility issues there may as well not be an entrance to the building at all.
Parking costly automobiles all over the entrance to a hotel, by parking personal, is a common practice The hope is that you see the fancy automobile and assume that if you stay a night or dine in their restaurant, you too can feel like the guy with the Navigator. Problem is that this forces the folks arriving by foot off the sidewalk and out into traffic (albeit a small amount in this case) and creates the potential to block the entrance Right or wrong, given that the hotel has been open a while, they likely don’t see this as an issue or it would have already been corrected. In all likelihood Steve will get an email saying that his comments are duly noted and that his opinion is important blah, blah, blah. In the end the hotel will only do something if required by law or if the choice to park cars in this way some how negatively effects the bottom line.
Saying that, I’m glad Steve takes people to task over these things. These issues don’t just concern the able bodied. Insuring proper, safe and sensible access for the disabled actually makes for better pedestrian accommodation for everyone.
I appreciate your efforts to make the city more walkable and pedestrian friendly – keep it up!! Maybe one of these days, even the naysayers will understand the importance of making hotels, restaurants, condos, etc. easily accessible to everyone – not just 3K pound vehicles.
I recently saw a couple struck by a vehicle at Grand and Hartford. They were crossing Hartford at a “walk” light when the criminal idiot sailed into a right turn from going south on Grand, plowing straight into the couple and sending them sprawling like bowling pins. Amazingly, aside from some scrapes, they seemed okay. The driver was actually laughing as she pulled over by Mekong. The guy she hit got right in her face at the car window, screaming angrily, while his galpal stood nearby, rubbing a bruised elbow. I told the couple I had seen them hit and that they needed to call 911 immediately. This turn of events took the infuriating smile right off the driver’s face; until then, it was quaintly amusing to her that pedestrians thought they had the right of way. A cop came and took a report, including my name and contact info. The driver was all humble-mumble by then, meekly apologizing and freely admitting fault. I still think her ass should be hauled into court and fined good and proper. All the admirable efforts to make S. Grand more pedestrian-friendly/attractive will count for naught as long as a cars-over-people mentality prevails. I was once nearly run over myself in a similar episode at 18th and Market Streets. Strikingly (so to speak) the driver who nearly hit me also laughed at what she had done and nearly done. I was happy that she paused just long enough for me to kick a major dent in her car’s door.
“…kick a major dent in her car’s door.” WIN!
Hey, there’s all kinds of “street justice”, some more palatable than others. Too often, “car vs. human” has a predictably bloody conclusion. I hope the woman whose car I damaged was moved to reflect on why it happened, at least privately. I imagined her friends or family asking about it. What did she say..? “Oh, some maniac kicked my car door in front of Union Station for utterly no reason!” Or maybe, “Oh, some lowlife I nearly ran over in front of Union Station became irate at my heedless laughter over this unconscionable act and proceeded to kick my car door.” Whatever she puts down to family and friends, she knows the real deal and I hope, the price of menacing pedestrians with her stupid-ass car and road hog attitude.
Not to mention that the oil stains the cars have left are gross. This must not be a “world-class hotel”. I tell ya, St. Louisans and their cars!