Icy Sidewalks Hard To Navigate In Power Chair

Winter weather has arrived, my first post-stroke winter without a car. I can bundle up to deal with cold temperatures, but modest snow can leave me stranded at home or looking for alternate routes.

I frequently take the sidewalk along Olive (above) from 16th to 14th to reach transit options. I passed over the ice you see but it was very rough, not easy on my power chair. If we’d have had more snow I couldn’t have gotten through this way.

I’ll learn which sidewalks get cleared and which do not, altering my route to avoid problem areas.

— Steve Patterson

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

Crossing Kingshighway

In June I did a post about being unable to active a pedestrian signal at Kingshighway & Devonshire (see Pedestrian Signal Activation Button Beyond Reach).  That button got relocated after I pointed out the absurd location. Last week I used the next crossing to the north, at  Kingshighway & Sutherland.  Yes, you guessed it, another pedestrian button not reachable from the sidewalk.

I eventually wheeled into the grass to press the button because it didn’t seem like it would change without doing so. Even after pressing the button it took many minutes to give the  ok to cross the street.

A week earlier I spotted another problem button from the #11 (Chippewa) MetroBus.

The Chippewa button I emailed in to the Streets Dept while I was still on the bus. I’m notifying the city of the problem at Sutherland via this post. To be fair, many intersections are great for pedestrians.But we tend not to remember that which works like it should, we remember those that give us fits.

Eventually I hope to gather volunteers and do a pedestrian audit of an area — signals, crosswalks, ramps, etc.  In the meantime I’ll catch them one at a time as I go about my daily life in various parts of St. Louis.

— Steve Patterson

Shrinking Sidewalks

The sidewalks downtown seem to be shrinking in width, even though the curb line hasn’t changed in years.

When I first passed Copia, above, on Wednesday three people were conversing just outside the door, blocking my only path. One moved the sign as I started to hit it and he said “sorry”, apologizing for the sign blocking the sidewalk.  A half an hour later I come back through and the sign is placed in the same location. The supports for the awning also reduce the width. So does the planter in the background.

Block after block our sidewalks are effectively reduced to single file. Not exactly friendly or what was envisioned when the sidewalks were widened at significant public expense some years ago.

If allowed, some adjacent property owners will privatize the public sidewalk.

— Steve Patterson

Wheelchair Users Unable To Pay Parking Fee In City Parking Lot

The City of St. Louis Parking Division operated by the Treasurer’s office recently built a surface parking lot at 3019-35 Olive Street to serve Midtown Alley businesses, including Hamburger Mary’s next door. The parking fee must be paid 24 hours per day.

I’ll be interested to find out if the Board of Public Service designed this for the Treasurer or if it was done separately. Regardless, it must be changed to comply with the ADA.

Larry Williams, the current Treasurer, is in his last month in office. Tishaura Jones will be sworn in as Treasurer on New Year’s Day. Jones indicated during the primary she’d work to remove parking as a responsibility of the office.

— Steve Patterson