Peabody Opera House Valets Caught Driving On 14th Street Sidewalk

Last Sunday I was heading home on the bus just before 1:30pm in the afternoon. Something big was going on at the Peabody Opera House because traffic was backed up. At first I was happy to see cars weren’t being parked on the east sidewalk along 14th like the previous time I came through the area during an event. But, I was soon shocked — the valets were driving on the sidewalk to park customer’s vehicles diagonally on 14th.  Here are the pictures I got from the bus:

ABOVE: Stopped traffic on 14th, beyond the temporary stop sign you can see cars parked on the road diagonally

ABOVE: Two cars are parked on the road but in the background you can see a vehicle on the sidewalk, it was being driven

ABOVE: I spotted a 2nd vehicle passing the bus on the sidewalk!

ABOVE: Valet about to drive off the sidewalk onto the road

ABOVE: The bus was moving now and we caught up with the sidewalk-driving valets

ABOVE: The 1st vehicle I spotted driving on the sidewalk just after the valet parked it on the road

I posted one of the images to Twitter and Facebook then once home emailed a few to various city officials. I’ll email this post to people at the Peabody. Sidewalks are for pedestrians! They are not overflow parking or private driveways. If I have to sit in my power chair in the middle of that sidewalk  to get this to stop, I will.

- 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

Parking on 14th Street Sidewalk…Again

A few years ago I blogged about city employees parking on the eastside 14th Street sidewalk which resulted on a policy change and keeping the sidewalk open for pedestrians. Last weekend driving home I saw a more egregious use of  the sidewalk for parking.

ABOVE: 14th Street sidewalk as angled parking, across from Scottrade Center & Peabody

I was livid as I watched a pedestrian forced to walk in the roadway. Fourteenth Street has four lanes yet someone decided cars should take over the sidewalk too!?!

ABOVE: Cars & SUVs were parked close together and blocked 100% of the sidewalk

A new effort is underway to plan streetscape changes on 14th from Washington Ave to Clark St., I’ll need to suggest street trees and/or bollards to physically protect the pedestrian space. I shouldn’t have to spend so much time just trying to keep cars off sidewalks downtown.

 - Steve Patterson

Pretty Paver Sidewalk Not Functional

Clayton Missouri is the upscale county seat for St. Louis County. Being upscale it has enjoyed new development and has infrastructure other cities can’t afford — such as paver sidewalks around the Ritz-Carlton hotel (map).

ABOVE: Lamppost in the middle of the sidewalk along Carondelet Plaza

I’m sure from the back of a Town Car the sidewalks look nice enough but the short walk from the hotel to the Forsyth MetroLink light rail station is anything but pleasant. When I came upon the lamppost shown above I thought about going to the left but I was afraid my wheelchair would go off the curb, tossing me into the street. Instead I pushed my way past the shrubs that have grown over and narrowing the sidewalk.

Both sides of the street the pavers are uneven, greatly so in places. But it looks pretty driving by in a car — that’s all that really matters, right?

- 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

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

Pedestrian Access Route Completed at Schlafly Bottleworks

Last October I posted about the lack of a pedestrian route to reach the Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood.  Pedestrians were forced to walk in spaces designed for cars, not people.  Pedestrians deserve their own route separate from crossing through automobile parking lots.  Furthermore, American’s with Disabilities Act guidelines requires such:

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.

Failure to provide this route is a civil rights violation, as well as being very anti-pedestrian.

I’m happy to report Schlafly has just completed constructing an access route!

ABOVE: new paving leads the pedestrian from sidewalk toward the building entrance.

Schalfly knows good  food & beer, not pedestrian access.  Responsibility to plan for pedestrian access falls to the architects & engineers hired by business owners. Unfortunately too many of these professionals fail their clients and the public by not considering how the pedestrian on the sidewalk will reach the front door.

ABOVE: Bottleworks in October 2010

I’m convinced that if design professionals actually informed their clients of the need to provide a route for pedestrians we’d see buildings get placed closer to the public sidewalk to reduce the expense of the concrete.  My preference, of course, would be for the buildings to abut the sidewalk — with no parking in between. Building codes must get caught up so this becomes something plan reviewers and building inspectors will check for.

In the meantime I’ve got thousands of business & property owners to persuade to do as Schlafly has done. I’ll probably start with Schlafly’s original location, The Tap Room, located in west downtown.

- Steve Patterson

“Lingering Not Loitering” – Dan Burden

ABOVE: Dan Burden (right) leads a "walking audit" on Delmar just west of Union. Photo credit: Lou Tobian/AARP

“Lingering Not Loitering” was the phrase I heard most often from walkability expert Dan Burden when he visited St. Louis recently, his response to University City attempting to keep pedestrians moving (story). I agree, we need more pedestrians lingering on our sidewalks.  Thankfully University City official voted down this controversial bill yesterday (story).

So who is this expert?

He Takes Back the Streets for Walking

Burden, 58, puts bloated thoroughfares on what he calls a “road diet.” In cities as large as Las Vegas, Toronto and Seattle and hamlets as small as Sammamish, Wash., he has trimmed lanes and filled the space with bike routes or a grassy buffer between the asphalt and the sidewalk to ease walkers’ stress. Of course, motorists tend to react to Burden as they might to a jackknifed manure spreader directly in their path. “They say ,’We already have a traffic problem,’” says Burden, “‘and now you want to take lanes away?’”

That’s exactly what he wants to do. But Burden isn’t an autocrat. His preternatural calm — he was a National Geographic photographer before founding Walkable in 1996 — sets people at ease. He knows that slimmer roads are “leaner, safer and more efficient,” and that they take some of the stress off drivers too. “We tend not to like open, scary places, and we try to get through them quicker. Somehow the canopy effect of tree-lined streets slows traffic.” Burden can’t eliminate road rage. But for some drivers, riders and pedestrians across the country, he can create road repose. (Time Magazine)

Burden is now the Executive Director of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute.

ABOVE: 26th Ward alderman Frank Williamson (left) with Dan Burden (right) pointing out an issue to everyone.

I joined Burden and residents on the two walking audits conducted on Tuesday May 24th. The starting point for both was ConnectCare located at 5535 Delmar Blvd.  That morning we went north on Belt Ave, west on Cates Ave, south on the Ruth Porter Mall and east on Delmar back to ConnectCare.

ABOVE: St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay (center) joined for part of the morning walk. Here we are on Belt Ave across from Ivory Perry Park.

So what were his comments on the audits and the presentation the night before?

• Design standards dictate how roads are designed, but within the same standards you can get very different results. Most often we get roads that create poor pedestrian environments  – excessively wide lanes with the resulting fast traffic.  But the design standards also allow for roads that work well for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists alike.
• Lanes are often too wide – say 12ft rather than 10ft.
• Paint is cheap, a right stripe to separate the  outside lane from the parking lane is a cost effective way to slow traffic.
• Roads that have had diets often still move as many cars as before.
• “bulbs” at corners can help cut the distance pedestrians must walk to cross a road in half.
• On-street parking is good because it slows traffic.
• Buildings must watch over sidewalks so pedestrians feel safe.

Here is an excellent video featuring Dan Burden:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcx08S1l-CQ

It was a pleasure meeting him and his staff, it has inspired me to do more.

- Steve Patterson

Wish Smokers Would Be Neater

We are almost at the end of five months of St. Louis’ smoke-free ordinance for most establishments.  The other morning I snapped the above pic on Washington Ave.  Really? Can’t smokers be a bit neater and properly dispose of their butts? Opponents of the smoke-free law will likely try to say this wouldn’t be a problem if they could smoke indoors but the health risks of that are worse than this unsightly mess.

- Steve Patterson

Cafe Tables Forcing Pedestrians Into Sidewalk Furnishing Zone

The steps of the Merchandise Mart building on Washington Ave between 10th & 11th create two points where the sidewalk gets restricted.  Otherwise there is room for pedestrians in the main part of the sidewalk with the outer “furnishing zone” left for bike racks and trees. Let’s look at how sidewalks are zoned:

Streetside Zones and Buffering

This chapter addresses the design of sidewalks and the buffers between sidewalks, moving traffic, parking and/or other traveled-way elements. The streetside consists of the following four distinct functional zones:

1. Edge zone—the area between the face of curb and the furnishing zone that provides the minimum necessary separation between objects and activities in the streetside and vehicles in the traveled way;

2. Furnishings zone—the area of the streetside that provides a buffer between pedestrians and vehicles, which contains landscaping, public street furniture, transit stops, public signage, utilities and so forth;

3. Throughway zone—the walking zone that must remain clear, both horizontally and vertically, for the movement of pedestrians. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) establishes a minimum width for the throughway zone; and

4. Frontage zone—the distance between the throughway and the building front or private property line that is used to buffer pedestrians from window shoppers, appurtenances and doorways. It contains private street furniture, private signage, merchandise displays and so forth and can also be used for street cafes. This zone is sometimes referred to as the “shy” zone.

The new restaurant Prime 1000 has changed the situation on the east end of the 1000 block of Washington Ave.

Tables and chairs now fill the sidewalk space, forcing pedestrians into the furnishing zone area.  If anyone were to use the bike racks the sidewalk would not be passable.

I’m a huge fan of sidewalk dining but this doesn’t work.  Perhaps one of the bike racks should be moved to the east of the steps to the restaurant, and the other just removed or relocated to another block or on 10th?

The other issue is the tables and chairs used  - they are too high for anyone seated in a wheelchair.  At least one regular height table should be available for disabled customers to be able to enjoy outside seating.  Lucas Park Grille & Flannery’s, both further west, also have high tables only.

- Steve Patterson