Gateway Arch Not ADA-Compliant, But I Made It To The Top Anyway

When you are dating someone who tells you he has never been to the top of the Arch, you make plans to take him to the top. Easy enough, except when you are disabled.  Saarinen’s Gateway Arch was conceived long before the American’s with Disabilities Act of 1990 was signed into law by George H.W. Bush, back in a time when many physically disabled people were institutionalized.

The National Park Service website alerts visitors to the fact the Arch isn’t wheelchair accessible.    Yet much of the design of the Arch does permit wheelchair use, although the slopes exceed those allowed by the ADA. Other areas have steps but railings are pretty good. It’d be impossible to make the full Arch experience ADA-compliant.

Thanks to Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Superintendent Tom Bradley and his staff for answering my questions beforehand. Depending on someone’s ability to navigate steps and walk on a curved floor they can reach the top.

— Steve Patterson

Readers: Prop R & Central Library the Best of 2012

To end 2012 on a positive note I asked you, the readers, to vote last week on the best of 2012. The passage of Prop R to reduce the size of the Board of Aldermen after the 2020 census and the reopening of the Central Library tied for the top spot. Rounding out the top 5 was the fact that Missouri voters approved the measure to let St. Louis control its own police department (the Civil War must really be over), the new Grand viaduct/bridge opening, and that a modern streetcar line is being studied to run through downtown out to Midtown and beyond.

Here’s the full results:

Q: Best things to happen to STL in 2012 (pick up to 5)

1. Prop R to reduce the Board of Aldermen approved by STL voters 72 {12.88%]
2. St. Louis Central Library reopened 72 [12.88%]
3. Local control of police approved by Missouri voters 44 [7.87%]
4. New Grand viaduct/bridge opened 40 [7.16%]
5. Downtown Partnership studying a modern streetcar line 39 [6.98%]
6. Metropolitan Bldg opened as artist lofts in Midtown/Grand Center 38 [6.8%]
7. Union Station sold to new owners 34 [6.08%]
8. St. Louis Public Radio (KWMU) relocated to Midtown/Grand Center 30 [5.37%]
9. City shut down riverfront homeless camps 24 [4.29%]
10. Starbucks at the Saucer opened 22 [3.94%]
11. Washington Ave so popular crowd control becomes necessary 21 [3.76%]
12. AAA to use round former HQ rather than raze it 20 [3.58%]
13. SLU faculty & student groups vote no confidence in Biondi 20 [3.58%]
14. Larry Williams decided not to run for another term as STL treasurer 18 [3.22%]
15. Rams fired Spagnuolo as head coach 14 [2.5%]
16. Bike parking ordinance enacted 13 [2.33%]
17. SLU gets approval to raze Pevely building 7 [1.25%]
18. Anti-eminent domain sign wins in court 7 [1.25%]
19. MSD bond issue passed 7 [1.25%]
20. Cigarette tax-hike proposition failed in Missouri 6 [1.07%]
21. Other: 6 [1.07%]
22. Last part of Highway 141 opened 3 [0.54%]
23. Sam Dotson named new police chief 2 [0.36%]

The opening of the Metropolitan in Midtown almost made the top 5, glad to see so many agree that getting residential in the area is a very positive thing. Hopefully 2013 will bring us many more positives to reflect on a year from now.

— Steve Patterson

Bike Parking At Skinker MetroLink Station

Where you see bicycles locked to handrails on an ADA ramp that’s a good indictor of a need for convenient bike parking.

The night I took the above image a young man on the same train I was on unlocked his bike from the same rail and rode off away from the Washington University campus. Three bikes were locked here on a random Thursday evening (11/29).

This MetroLink station may have bike parking somewhere but I’ve seen bikes here before. We’ve got to do a better job at designing public space for the actual users.

— Steve Patterson

Pedicabs In St. Louis

Few things bring a smile to my face like the humble pedicab.

My one and only time as a passenger was in NYC in 2005. Riding among traffic in Manhattan leaving Central Park was a bit scary but it made for a great memory. Hopefully our pedicabs will create positive memories for St. Louis visitors.

— Steve Patterson

Happy Winter Solstice…Or End

It is the 21st and the world hasn’t ended, maybe that’ll happen later today. I suppose a few might be reading this from your bunker but most of us we are going about our daily lives:

Scientists confidently predict that the worst upheaval we humans face at the end of this, and indeed any other calendar, is the need to get a new calendar. And perhaps nurse a celebratory hangover.

To their credit – because to say nothing might be worse – scientists have come forward to explain the fallacy, or sometimes that misinterpreted grain of truth, which lies behind each of the doomsday scenarios. In a move that gave short shrift to hedging, the US space agency released a video intended for 22 December 10 days early. Nasa has called it Why the Earth Did Not End yesterday. Academics did their part too. They traipsed from studio to studio to lay out the mundane truth for TV and radio audiences. Some spoke to otherwise respectable journalists for newspaper articles. (Source)

Have a great weekend….happy solstice.

— Steve Patterson