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

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

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

Updating Non-ADA Compliant Properties

Returning from Oklahoma City last week I booked a room in St. Robert MO (along I-44)

ABOVE: Quality Inn, St. Robert MO

When I arrived the first thing I noticed was the lack of a curb ramp onto the sidewalk from the loading zone between the disabled parking spaces. As soon as I got into my “accessible” room I knew I couldn’t stay — a tub/shower is impossible for me to use.  Two grab bars does not make a tub/shower accessible.

The staff was helpful, they called the Holiday Inn Express next door and got me a room there.

ABOVE: Holiday Inn Express St. Robert MO

It turns out the Quality Inn was the old Holiday Inn.  It was renovated but that didn’t include ADA requirements such as a roll-in shower or curb ramps. The useful life of the property has been extended through renovation so it will continue for years to be non-compliant.

The Holiday Inn Express, opened in April 2010, was as close to perfect as I could expect.  The ramps, above, are not the recommended design as someone walking past one has to deal with the cross slope.  The better was is to have the sidewalk drop down to create the access point and then rise on the other side.  Better still, just don’t have a curb and use bollards.

ABOVE: the roll-in shower at the Holiday Inn Express was ideal

The shower in the new Holiday Inn Express was ideal for me.  I wasn’t traveling with my manual or my motorized wheelchair but the lack of a raised curb, a seat and grab bars ensured a safe shower. Half the hotels I’ve stayed in recently that had seats had padded vinyl seats which can be dangerously slippery when soapy & wet.  The Quality Inn should have updated one bathroom to have a roll-in shower.

Closer to home we have the case of the restaurant space at 711 Olive.

When the Downtown Cantina occupied this space the above door was their main door. After they closed a new place, Slay’s on Zaytoon opened after remodeling the space.  In their remodel they made the above accessible entrance a secondary doorway and the other door their main door.

This entrance, as you can see, is not accessible. At the time the person from Slay’s said just come in and they’d unlock the accessible door.  That works if you are with someone but not when alone.  Slay’s wasn’t open long and on November 11, 2009 I sent an email to David Newburger, St. Louis’ Commissioner on the Disabled, about  the situation. Here is part of his response:

From the point of view of the law, the City cannot deny an occupancy permit to new operators of a facility who are not doing significant rehab if that facility has previously had an occupancy permit for the same use. So, as I think you understand, from the City’s point of view and unless the new occupant will need a building permit, this is a matter for moral persuasion rather than legal imperative.

If I can get the owners attention, I will try to impress the new owners. Likewise, it is possible Alderman Young or others in City Hall can have some say in this.

As a last resort, of course, if the owners do not set the situation up to use that accessible entrance, both you and any other person with a disability who might patronize the restaurant can file a discrimination charge with the City’s Civil Rights Enforcement Agency, the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, and/or the US Department of Justice.

When Everest opened in this space they didn’t make any significant changes from the previous tenant.  The main door is not accessible and the accessible door says “use other door.”

Someone issued a permit to renovate the space for Slay’s on the Zaytoon.  Who would that have been that OK’d making the non-accessible doorway the main door?  The City of St. Louis!  The city cannot keep passing the buck when they fail to ensure that spaces that are being remodeled do not end up less accessible than before.

I think I will begin filing complaints with the above agencies  — complaints against the municipal agency that should ensure compliance when issuing permit. For them to knowingly allow a tenant to remodel a space so that it became less accessible is discriminatory action in my view.

- Steve Patterson

Citygarden is great, but not perfect

Citygarden has impressed everyone in it’s its first year open in St. Louis.  The two-block sculpture garden is, in most respects, outstanding in design and construction.

ABOVE: curb ramp at 10th & Chestnut

The two curb ramps along 10th Street (at Chestnut and at Market) both hold water following a rain.

ABOVE: curb ramp at 10th & Market

Numerous ramps downtown have the same problem, but few were built as part of an otherwise high quality project. The mini lake at top is probably the worst downtown. Naturally, that is the one I use most often.  Even when dry I must use the side of the ramp — my wheelchair’s footrest gets caught if I go straight in.

ABOVE: water doesn't drain into the rain garden as it should

And the environmentally friendly rain garden isn’t getting all the rain water it is supposed to receive.  Hopefully these three areas will be redone someday.  The problem at 10th & Market will be corrected when the wide “hallway” is extended to the west.  Had Citygarden built it’s side planning for the future hallway the current issue wouldn’t exist.

ABOVE: hallway crossing 9th street

As a member of the Gateway Mall Advisory Board I can assure you I will bring up water retention at curb ramps and planning future projects so the hallway concept is easier to complete.

- Steve Patterson

A mom sets bad example for her kids

Even before I was a teenager I’d tell the librarians at my local branch when someone would park in a disabled parking space without the proper permit.  This was a good 15 years before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as well as before I became disabled in 2008.  These days most drivers seldom park in a disabled parking spot without a permit.

But the loading space next to the disabled parking spot is another story. On Friday I was in the St. Louis suburb of Warson Woods Missouri (Manchester & Sappington).  When I left the store I was visiting I see a mom unloading two kids from her car.  One was a baby in a stroller and they other maybe 4-5 years old.  My car was parked not in the disabled space to the left of her car but in the regular space to the right. I parked to the right of the loading zone because getting in and out of my car requires me to open my driver’s door fully.

As I made my way to my car I had to pass right by her.  I said something like, “You know that is not a parking space?” She replied, “Oh, yeah.” I then told her that space is very helpful for those using wheelchairs and that she was setting a bad example for her kids.  I  was very upset.  Perhaps I should get stickers printed to slap on a window — one of those that is hard to remove? But that would probably be considered an act of property damage or something.

The loading zone is critical for a ramp from a van but also a must when helping a passenger to get in and out of a manual wheelchair or even using a walker. As the Baby Boomers age we will see more and more people who need a bit of assistance — and space.

What really upsets me is she had the choice of two space nearly as close — the one in front of her car and the one in front of the disabled space.  There was no shortage of parking, she just felt that she was entitled.  I think when someone parks as she did they don’t expect to get called out by some who is disabled.  Hopefully she will remember me.

- Steve Patterson

A poor attempt at ADA compliance

ABOVE: a poor attempt at a ramp at Tucker & Delmar

What passes for ADA compliance never ceases to amaze me.  Does it work? Sorta.  After my chair came to a sudden stop I backed up and approached from just the right angle to be able to get up this curb.

- Steve Patterson

Midtown crosswalk lacks ramps, blocked by parked car

Everywhere I turn I encounter crosswalk issues. On Monday I brought you the finally corrected crosswalk on Delmar.  From the 2nd floor terrace of the Pultizer Foundation I noticed a bad crosswalk on Washington Ave in Midtown:

Neither side has curb cuts and a car is parked blocking the crosswalk!

From the street level we can see the car parked so it fully blocks the crosswalk.  The sign indicates parking is permitted in both directions.

What needs to happen is to bulb out the curb both the width of the parking lane and crosswalk. A channel can be left to allow rainwater in the gutter to drain. The bulb out would do a few things: 1) the ramp could be within the bulb rather than cut back into the existing sidewalk, 2) the bulb would prevent motorists from accidentally blocking the crosswalk and 3) the bulbs would shorten the distance to cross the street.  The current situation cannot continue.

- Steve Patterson

Delmar crosswalk now has the ADA ramps it should have had in the first place

Last July I posted about a crosswalk on Delmar that lacked ADA ramps (Delmar Crosswalk Missing ADA Ramps)

ABOVE: Delmar crosswalk lacking ADA ramps, July 2009

This past Monday I was pleasantly surprised to see ramps were finally installed.

ABOVE: Same crosswalk with new ADA ramps, April 2010

- Steve Patterson

Volvo more important than pedestrian crosswalk

ABOVE: Volvo blocking ramp & crosswalk across St. Charles St at 10th St

I was pleased last year when the city finally painted the crosswalk lines and installed a “no parking here to corner” sign on St. Charles St at 10th St. Today the driver of a blue Volvo decided their car was more important than than pedestrians who need the crosswalk and ramp.

Yes, I called the police to report the illegally parked Volvo but who knows if they made it to ticket the car. I left my card under the wiper and I hope the owner reads this.  If so, here is a message just for him/her:

I use a wheelchair and I had to go a block out of my way — twice — because you decided to park so that the ramp I need was blocked.  Thank you so very much for visiting downtown today, please come back often.  I called the police and gave them your plate number so they could help welcome you.

I’m guessing where they live they don’t have pedestrians.

- Steve Patterson