Power Wheelchairs Aren’t Vehicles

I use a power wheelchair when I go out for a long “walk” or if I’m using mass transit. In doing so I stick to the sidewalks and crosswalks as best I can, I know this is safer for me. But others seem to think their chairs are vehicles. I’ve posted before about wheelchair users in the street. Recently I saw one in the street that had me and everyone on the bus in shock:

ABOVE: This guy came from Page Ave and went north on Kingshighway between the lanes

ABOVE: Close up we can see an oxygen tank on the chair

Really? Maybe he needs help understanding how to get around safely? He probably used to bicycle against traffic. I just don’t get it, I can’t think of a more dangerous place for him to be.  The sidewalk in that part of Kingshighway is fine for use.

- Steve Patterson

Walkability Impacts Number of Pedestrians Using Sidewalks & Transit

The form our buildings take has a direct connection to the number of pedestrians on the sidewalk: streats lined with urban buildings will see more pedestrians than those with anti-urban buildings (read: suburban). Transit riders are pedestrians on part of their journey, but many of us have no choice but to be pedestrians in unfriendly places where few pedestrians are spotted. On a recent ride on a packed #95 (Kingshighway) MetroBus this became clear.

ABOVE: Car storage separates pedestrians at the bus stop from numerous businesses.

ABOVE: The able-bodied can get inside but not everyone can

ABOVE: Eventually this building will get reused or replaced, but will pedestrians have access?

We don’t design buildings to be used by pedestrians. Sure, some will say there are no pedestrians so why should we? I say there are few pedestrians in many places because that is the result of decades of anti-urban policy.

 - Steve Patterson

River City Casino Has Surprisingly Good Pedestrian Access Route

River City Casino, located in south St. Louis County, opened for business two years ago yesterday. I’d visited the site in 2010 shortly after it opened but last week I visited again — this time as a pedestrian. I knew from my prior visit in my car they’d done a good job with sidewalks but I wanted to experience it first hand.

The #40 Broadway MetroBus I took ends at the Catalan Loop in far south St. Louis. According to Google Maps, the walk to the casino from the transit center is one mile. Many places I seek to visit using my power chair can’t manage to connect just 50 feet to the door so I was still a bit skeptical.

ABOVE: Looking north at the Catalan Loop MetroBus transit center in south St. Louis

ABOVE: Looking south on Broadway, not a pedestrian's paradise

ABOVE: Bridge over the River des Peres is fairly new and adequate

ABOVE: After crossing the bridge you are in St. Louis County and facing River City Casino Boulevard, a private road east of Broadway

ABOVE: Only the south side of River City Casino Boulevard has a pedestrian route

ABOVE: The road becomes a bridge over railroad tracks and industrial land

ABOVE: Pedestrians are directed in such a way they are facing the main entrance

ABOVE: Crosswalks are a different material but the visually impaired might have issues since they blend with the adjacent pavement

ABOVE: The path leads the pedestrian, and motorists from parking, right where to go

ABOVE: From the main entrance looking north to bridge where we came, a one mile journey

ABOVE: I didn't see any bike parking anywhere.

ABOVE: North of River City Casino Blvd is overflow parking and a pedestrian route exists for those who park here to walk safely all the way to the entrance

ABOVE: Navigating the entire site was good, even from the far south edge of the site

Overall I was highly impressed by what could have been a pedestrian’s nightmare, like Loughborough Commons. Good pedestrian circulation, just like vehicular circulation, doesn’t happen by accident. Someone made pedestrian access a high priority. Perhaps River City’s owner, Pinnacle Entertainment, was sued because of poor ADA access at another location? Or the professional design firm(s) included it as a design priority? Or St. Louis County required River City to plan for pedestrians in addition to cars? However it came to be, this shows good pedestrian access is possible when planned in advance. You can view an aerial image here.

Hopefully the pedestrian network will serve them well as they expand this year:

Construction works are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2012 with an expected completion in the second half of 2013. The new expansion at the Missouri casino will add a 200-room hotel, a 10,000 square-foot multi-purpose event center and a covered parking structure with capacity for approximately 1,700 vehicles. Additionally, the $82 million project will create nearly 100 permanent jobs and 350 construction-related jobs. (Source)

I’ll return next year after the new work is completed to see if hotel guests can walk to/from the casino via sidewalks.

- Steve Patterson

New Driveway Makes Sidewalk Non-ADA Compliant (Updated)

The former Burger King restaurant at 7th/Park/Broadway is gone, nobody fights to save an old suburban prototype fast food chain.

ABOVE: Aerial image of the Burger King before being razed, click image to view in Google Maps

Hardly a pedestrian paradise but sidewalks were continuous around the property boundaries. I’ve been watching the site since the Burger King closed. Last year work began on the site, passing by on the #30 MetroBus I’ve snapped pictures.

ABOVE: Site after the Burger King was cleared last year

ABOVE: The company to the north has built a bare concrete windowless warehouse on seen on Tuesday.

Beautiful it isn’t but something else caught my eye as the bus went south on Broadway.

ABOVE: New driveway to Park bisects the public sidewalk without ADA ramps.

Really? I’d like to slap the person(s) that poured those concrete curbs without making provisions for wheelchairs. The inspectors also deserve a slap since this work is in the public right-of-way.

I’m sending this post to Clean the Uniform and people at city hall.

Update 3/1/2012 @ 11am:

This will get fixed as part of a project titled 8496 BROADWAY & 7TH STREET IMPROVEMENTS (PARK AVENUE TO I-55 OVERPASSS),FEDERAL PROJECT STP-5422(612), ST. LOUIS, MO : that will have a pre-construction conference on March 7th. Still, this shows clear lack of oversight on the part of inspectors to allow something like this to get built in the first place.

 - Steve Patterson

Poor Pedestrian Accessibly at Saint Louis (Panera) Bread Co on Chippewa St. at Lansdowne Ave

The comments on a recent post brought up the issue of poor pedestrian accessibility at the Saint Louis Bread Co on Chippewa St at Lansdowne Ave and the fact they added a drive-thru to the existing location last year at a cost of $125,000 (per city records).

ABOVE: Recently added drive-thru lane at the Saint Louis Bread Co at 6607 Chippewa, click image to view aerial in Google Maps

The building at 6607 Chippewa was built in 1974 but became the present Saint Louis Bread Co after a major remodel in 2000, a decade after President George H.W. Bush signed the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. Like most places in this part of town, most customers arrive by private automobile, that’s how I arrived earlier this month.

ABOVE: Easy access from disabled parking, my car is the vehicle on the left

The location is in the Lindenwood Park neighborhood and across the street from the St. Louis Hills neighborhood.  Both neighborhoods include many people who walk recreationally. The Saint Louis Bread Co likely has a fair number of employees that arrive as pedestrians via MetroBus (#10 or #30).

ABOVE: Accessibility in the public right-of-way is good with ramps, crosswalks and signals to assist crossing Chippewa St

Public sidewalks and public transportation is equality important with respect to accessible route:

4.3.2 Location.

(1) At least one accessible route within the boundary of the site shall be provided from public transportation stops, accessible parking, and accessible passenger loading zones, and public streets or sidewalks to the accessible building entrance they serve. The accessible route shall, to the maximum extent feasible, coincide with the route for the general public. (Source: ADA Accessibility Guidelines)

They are good on the route from accessible parking but they fail to provide a route from “public transportation stops…and public streets or sidewalks.”  There is no “or” in guideline 4.3.2.1, it’s clear a route must be provided for all. Since most public transportation stops happen in the public right-of-way you cover access from a public sidewalk you’ve got transportation covered as well.

ABOVE: The only pedestrian entry point is a stair on the SW corner of the building

ABOVE: The stair doesn't meet the ADA guidelines regarding railing design, click image to read guidelines

The stair as numerous issues, the railings don’t extend beyond the last step. One addition step exists beyond the stair and it does’t have a railing.

ABOVE: A switchback ramp should have been constructed in the above space in 2000, click image for ramp guidelines

In 2000 and in 2011 they made substantial alterations to the property yet they failed to correct the lack of a proper pedestrian access route. I will follow this until a pedestrian access route is finally provided.

- Steve Patterson

Pedestrian Access Still an Afterthought at Loughborough Commons

By November 2008 the first of four outparcels at Loughborough Commons was finished — a Burger King.

ABOVE; Burger King at Loughborough Commons in November 2008

No sidewalk was built to provide access to the two parcels to the east. Granted, at the time, the parcel to the west wasn’t built upon so the connection to the sidewalk system I fought for in 2005-06. Still it is clear the engineers that planned Loughborough Commons had no provisions for pedestrian access.

The lot to the west now was a Fifth Third Bank, it was under construction a year ago. During construction I raised the issue of pedestrian access. When it opened it did have an access route past the drive thru lanes to the front door facing Loughborhough.

ABOVE: Pedestrian access route to Fifth Third Bank.

When the bank opened pedestrians had a way to do their banking but not a way to eat at Burger King, not necessarily a bad thing I suppose. Once construction began on the parcel to the east they suddenly realized they needed to correct the earlier lack of sidewalk at Burger King.

ABOVE: Newly added sidewalk in front of Burger King should have been built in 2008 but wasn't

Yesterday I took the #70 Grand MetroBus to Loughborough Commons to buy something at Lowe’s. While there I checked out the changes since my last visit. This was my first time there in my wheelchair. View Loughborough Commons in Google Maps here.

Y

ABOVE: Looking west from the far east parcel where a building is under construction now

Crosswalk stripes are still needed at the auto drives to Fifth Third Bank and Burger King. After I took the above picture I looked to my left and the last remaining out parcel. At some point they expect to connect it to this sidewalk, right?

ABOVE: Looking south from the third parcel

They’ve already poured the curb with no provision for an accessible route to the last unbuilt parcel to the south. Talk about poor planning! When that lots sells this work will need to be changed, potentially interrupting this business.

Loughborough Commons is far better than it would have been had I not pushed the issue as it was being built. Still, problems exist that I will elaborate on in future posts. This shows what an afterthought pedestrian access really is. The civil engineers should be embarrassed.

- Steve Patterson

I Don’t Understand Some Wheelchair Users

The other day I was at the bus shelter on the NE corner of 18th & Washington waiting on the #97 bus when I see a man heading eastbound in a wheelchair.  No big deal, I see other wheelchair users daily. But this man wasn’t using the wide sidewalk — he was in the roadway!

The next day I’m at the same bus shelter to catch the #97 again and the same man passes by in the road again — this time heading westbound.

ABOVE: Wheelchair user on Washington Ave roadway heading WB toward 18th

I watched as he went past diagonally-parked cars west of 18th. I was shocked to see him stay in the roadway rather than on the sidewalk.

Yes, there have been times where I’m forced to travel in the roadway due to lack of a sidewalk. On those rare occasions I’m on a low traffic side road, not a major road like Washington Ave. The Schlafly Tap Room is only four blocks directly west of my place but due to numerous places without curb cuts I have to go up to Washington Ave rather than Locust.  If I go to 21st I will end up on the road from St. Charles St to Locust (one short block).  When I remember, I use 20th to head south to Locust then west to 21st to avoid being in the road.  Either way I have to cross 21st in the middle of the block between Locust & Olive since the SW corner of Locust & 21st doesn’t have a curb cut.

I know I’m safer staying on the sidewalks — crossing roads only at crosswalks. Obviously not all wheelchair users feel the same. My assumption is some users face so many obstacles trying to use sidewalks they just give up and use the road.  Or maybe they used to walk in the road rather than on the sidewalk and do the same now that they use a wheelchair?

I should try to talk to this guy to find out.

- Steve Patterson

The Average St. Louis Street is an Unfriendly Environment for Pedestrians

Just going about my life I encounter so many obstacles to making St. Louis a great city for pedestrians, and by extension, transit users and cyclists. Basically anyone other than motorists.

ABOVE: Light pole in the middle of the 39th St sidewalk @ I-44 says pedestrians don't matter to St. Louis

Yes, I own a car so I am, at times, also a motorist.  But I cover far more area as a transit using pedestrian and the design of our city makes being a pedestrian a challenge. Sure, we have a select few areas where being a pedestrian is a pleasant experience, but the other 98% is downright hostile. Place matters and the design of our place discourages walking and encourages driving. We need a balance.

ABOVE: When the new housing replaced the old west of 39th at McRee a curb cut wasn't built on the other side.

Yes, I use a power chair but these issues affect all potential pedestrians. We want middle-class families right? But they walk too, including with baby strollers. We must examine all our streets and improve the walkability.

I’ve not yet examined the Great Streets legislation adopted by the city but I doubt it will ever reach this two block stretch of 39th between Shaw & McRee. It will improve a few sections getting major reconstruction but the bulk of the city will remain unfriendly to most pedestrians.

- Steve Patterson

Reaching the St. Louis County Library

I was thinking of attending a meeting being held tonight (7pm-9pm) at the headquarters of the St. Louis County Library located at 1640 South Lindbergh Blvd. The meeting is a St. Louis Aerotropolis Forum sponsored by the Citizens Alliance for Missouri Patriots (a closed Facebook group) that I’m NOT a member of:

Alliance of Tea Party and Patriot Group leaders and organizers in the State of Missouri who wish to combine forces in working together for our state’s sovereignty, who adhere to and believe in our founding fathers’ constitutional principles, government fiscal responsibility, individual unalienable rights, and a free market system. CAMP does NOT represent any one political party, but only the People of Missouri.

Here is the description of the Facebook event:

Concerned about the China Hub issue to be brought before our state legislators in the upcoming special session? For those in the local St. Louis metro area or across the state, you are invited to join us in hearing our panel of speakers who will be discussing and debating this topic which will affect every citizen in Missouri.

Scheduled panelists are Audrey Spalding from Show Me Institute, and David Roland from Missouri Freedom Center.

We are currently awaiting confirmation on panel speakers from the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association who are working to bring the China Hub to St. Louis.

The forum will be held in the library auditorium starting at 7pm and ending promptly at 9pm.

Scheduled Host is Mr. Rodney White, retired businessman, local author and speaker.

Please invite your neighbors, family, and friends who are wanting to know more about this new government tax credit.

I’d like to hear this perspective,  I have three choices on how to get to the meeting:

1. Drive my car
2. Ask for a ride with someone else.
3. Take public transit

Let’s look at each option.

1) Drive my car

This is the option 99% of those attending will use. But I try to use my car as little as possible, plus I have a narrow window between 6pm-9pm when I can drive to get the best insurance discount. I’d have to leave the event early if I drove to be home by 9pm.  And yes, Progressive knows exactly when I drive  because of the device I voluntarily plugged into my diagnostic port. Google Maps says the drive is 12.6 miles long and would take 18 minutes if I use I-64 or 13.7-14.2 miles (& 29-33 minutes) if I use surface streets.

2) Ask for a ride with someone else

This is a good option, one I wish more people would use rather than driving themselves. I know only one person on the attending list, but I know Ed Martin online only and I’m not sure I want to ask him or be at his mercy.

3) Take public transit

Finally my favorite option! I have two choices to reach the library via transit. The option that gets me there closest to the start time takes the longest (59 minutes) and would involve using MetroLink and two buses. The other option takes 50-56 minutes depending upon when I leave.  This is twice as long as if I drove but from my view this is time I can read, check email, observe the city, etc.

Since I’ve never been there in my power chair before I need to investigate the route in detail. The option that includes only one bus is more appealing than having to transfer from one bus to another so I looked at taking the #58 bus from the Clayton MetroLink/MetroBus station.

Seems simple enough, “walking” 3/10th of a mile is no big deal in my chair.

But when I looked at the aerial image and the street view is when problems became clear.

On the left it's not clear a sidewalk exists.

The street view shows curbs on both sides of the driveway, which means no deal.  In looking back up at the aerial it seems the near side may have been fixed, but the far sides of the drive is unknown. This route is too uncertain.

The other option is to take the #58X Express Bus to Big Bend & Kirkwood Rd then transfer to the #48 northbound on Kirkwood/Lindbergh.

I’m pretty sure the stops are not as shown, but still the area has good sidewalks, ramps and crosswalks. I just need to figure out where to board the 48. Oh, just a bit to the north.

And here we see a common problem. A large pad is provided as well as a shelter but the pad isn’t connected to the sidewalk. Suburban sidewalks are often just for show, not actual use, so having the sidewalk actually connect to points pedestrians would actually use is just radical thinking I suppose.  My chair can deal with the grade change and grass but someone using a manual chair, walker or cane might have difficulty.

The great thing is the #48 stops right in front of the library. I should be good from this point, right? Wrong!

Where the bus stops there is no pedestrian route to the entrance. Perhaps a proper pedestrian access route exists somewhere in either direction?

No pedestrian route at the north vehicle drive

And no pedestrian route at the south vehicle drive

If I were to risk my life trying either vehicle drive I still have no clue where to find a ramp to reach and accessible entrance. Even the able-bodied would take a chance if they walked in one of the driveways. Walking to the library seems as American as apple pie, but not in St. Louis County apparently.

I checked out their accessibility page:

Buildings and Bookmobiles

What physical accommodations exist for persons with physical limitations?

• Handicapped-accessible parking
• Ramp entrances
• Power doors
• Elevators
• Accessible aisles and routes inside the buildings
• Accessible restrooms, water fountains, and public telephones
• Low service desks
• Specially-designed school bookmobile with wheelchair lift

No thought is given to pedestrians at all. My example is extreme in that I’m coming from a long distance. What about someone, like a senior or a child, in Kirkwood? What is the reverse route?  Public buildings like libraries should demonstrate to others what is expected. Oh, I guess it does, they don’t expect pedestrians. But people do use these bus routes and stops and every transit rider is a pedestrian on at least one end of their trip.

St. Louis County and municipalities continue to spend money on sidewalks and ADA ramps but they fail to connect the dots! These new & improved sidewalks are mere roadside decoration  to give the appearance of walkability & accessibility.

I contacted the St. Louis County Library on the 26th about their lack of a pedestrian access route and they are tagged on the tweet of this post.

- Steve Patterson

We’d Never Have Roads As Incomplete As Our Sidewalks

Wednesday I was out photographing along Jefferson for future posts, the hottest day of the week. I had taken the #94 (Page) bus to Jefferson & Dr. Martin Luther King.  I was going to up to the signal at Stoddard St. to cross Jefferson to the east.  I get to Mills St. and see there is no curb cut on the other side, I can’t go any further. For new readers, I use a power wheelchair to go further than a block from my house.

ABOVE: Jefferson @ Mills St with a curb cut only on the near side.

Not that I would dare cross Jefferson without traffic stopped but I turned that direction. After all, the curb ramp was placed to serve two directions.

ABOVE: why does this ramp point across Jefferson?

Of course, the two-direction corner curb ramp is installed without thought as to logical use. It has been a default. If a person in a wheelchair were to cross Jefferson at this point and be hit by a car the city would attempt to argue the person shouldn’t have done so. I’d argue the city, through the placement of the curb ramp, is implying that crossing Mills or Jefferson from this point is equally accessible. In fact, the ramp faces Jefferson more than Mills.

Even if I got to Stoddard St. I would have been stuck, I just noticed on Google Streetview that neither of the two crosswalks at the  signalized intersection have curb cuts on the east side of Jefferson.

If our road network was designed like our sidewalks, nobody could drive anywhere except a few select places. Pedestrian networks need to be as connected as the road they adjoin.

- Steve Patterson