Jefferson Commons: Very Good ADA Access With One Big Exception

Jefferson Commons has done an amazing job retrofitting new tenant spaces into the old Foodland building on Jefferson (see Reurbanizing Jefferson & Lafayette Pt 2: Foodland). As I had hoped

UIC/Greenstreet Properties did a great job and, as required by the ADA, provided a non-drivewalk access route from each public transit stop. Shopping centers must do so, whereas stand-alone properties can provide access through a driveway. Yet an important detail for compliance was overlooked. It may have been shown on the drawings but overlooked during construction, or left off the drawings by mistake.

I’ve not seen any crossing paint here, drawing that in on construction plans can greatly reduce a design or construction error. I’ll be sending this to my contacts at the companies responsible and to city officials.

— Steve Patterson

Commercial Property Owners Need To Consider Accessibility When Making Alterations

Being an old city we have many old buildings that aren’t yet wheelchair accessible. When a business opens up they need to be aware of the ADA, especially when spending money remodeling.

The building on the SW corner of Jefferson Ave & Winnebago St has had many establishments over the years, including quite a few since the 1990 passage of the ADA. Most changes over the years have been relatively minor. According to city records the previous owner owned the property from December 1977 to July 2007. In 2008 the current owner added a new patio out front, mostly in the public right-of-way. This was the perfect opportunity to make the first floor of this 1890 building wheelchair accessible.

When the patio was built the owner could’ve easily modified the sidewalk to provide access to the side door. It would’ve been a relatively minor add on to the patio project. To do it now will be far more costly.

— Steve Patterson

Independence & Pedestrian Access

As a disabled person, my independence is very important. I assume no matter the disability. independence is important. Thus it isn’t a surprise to me to see it mentioned in mission a statement:

St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired enhances independence, empowers individuals and enriches the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired and their families.

Yet their website illustrates auto-centric thinking, not independence:

The Society is located at the southeast corner of Brentwood Blvd. and Manchester Road. The corner of Brentwood and Manchester is approximately 2 miles south of the Galleria shopping mall. The Society’s facility is approximately 12 miles west of downtown St. Louis.

There are signs visible from all four directions at that corner indicating the “Society For The Blind Building”, with all addresses (8764 – 8798) of occupants of the building below the name. The Society’s entry is clearly marked above the main entrance.

There are reserved parking places in front of the main entrance, as well as handicapped parking next to the building.

Where’s the information from  public transit? I often encounter blind & visually impaired riders on transit.

It would help their independence if the Society made a slight modification to provide an pedestrian access route separate from the auto driveway. It would be fairly straightforward:

As you can see from the image above, building a pedestrian route would be a fairly simple proposition for them. I sent them a message a couple of days ago suggesting this. I’ll keep you posted if anything happens.

— Steve Patterson

Crossing Manchester Rd (MO 100) at McKnight

Recently I wanted to cross Manchester Rd, state highway 100, at McKnight. I quickly found out doing so is far from ideal in a wheelchair.  On the surface it looks good: crosswalks, pedestrian signals, etc.  Let me show you one glaring problem I discovered:

Over the last 20+ years three out of the four corners at this intersection have been redeveloped, and Rock Hill has been trying nearly as long on the fourth. Why is this still an issue? Who cut out part? How long ago?

Three possible culprits: Rock Hill, St. Louis County, or most likely, MoDOT. I suspect MoDOT because Manchester Road is Missouri State highway 100.  I hope to find out why this wasn’t addresses recently when a gas station replaced the stone Rock Hill church on this corner.

This is part of the problem with having too many entities: municipal, county, & state.

— Steve Patterson

Asphalt Accessibility

Recently I defended the city’s planned use of asphalt to bridge the gap between a sidewalk that sank next to a water main lid (see post).  One comment started an interesting side thread: “Then let’s do this at every intersection that lacks a curb ramp!”

So today I’m going to show you uses of asphalt that are both acceptable & unacceptable, and try to explain the difference.

Acceptable

In both cases it looks like a half-ass fix, because they are. When you have very little money you must often make due. These weren’t ADA-compliant before and they still aren’t now. In both cases though, I can now get through where I couldn’t before.

Unacceptable

This case is like the step at Park Pacific across the street, a major project with new concrete that ended up non-compliant. Not only was this poured inches above the street level, it is pointing into the intersection. This corner should’ve had one directional ramp for 14th and another for Olive. The other ramps around the library have similar problems.

If I had to chose between non-ADA compliant where I had to pick another route or non-ADA compliant where I (and others) can still get through I’ll always pick the latter. Just as I’ll always expect new work to be done correctly.

— Steve Patterson