Pedestrian Signal Activation Button At Chouteau & Compton Now Reachable
Last month riding on the bus I noticed a pedestrian problem and managed to get a good picture. I emailed the pic to Director of Streets Todd Waeltermann and Board of Public Service (BPS) President Rich Bradley to show them the problem. They quickly saw the problem but told me this was MoDOT, not the city’s doing. Thankfully they contacted the appropriate person at MoDOT and got it fixed within a week.
At the end of August I was in the area so I stopped by and checked it out. Yes, I’m now able to reach the buttons to cross both Compton & Chouteau. Thanks Todd & Rich for alerting MoDOT about their error!
At some point I need to devote a whole post to how these islands are being designed now. Used to be a ramp got you up to the curb-high surface, you crossed, then down another ramp. These had flaws and the new way creates a nice level surface. It hasn’t happened to me yet but I can see problems when I encounter someone else in a wheelchair/scooter or even just pushing a baby stroller. Despite having room, there’s never a place for one to move out of the way for another to pass.
Before you dismiss this concern know that I often see other users of mobility devices when I’m out and about. As Baby Boomers age I’ll see more and more. Food for thought.
— Steve Patterson
The other challenge with the change from ramps to slots will be long-term maintenance – I expect to see dirt, debris, snow and ice filling in these low spots that mechanized street sweepers can’t (and won’t) reach.
That walkway through the island makes for a nice trough, no?
Glad to see this fixed. Given the high number of new intersections plagued by this problem, I don’t understand why it continues to happen. You’d think the folks in chanrge of this would have identified this issue and made steps to stop it from happening again, and again, and again. From what I know of things fixing this after the fact isn’t exactly cheap…but I guess that penalty must not be high enough or it wouldn’t continue top happen.
As far as these “slots” go, they absolutely fill with rubbish and ice. Additionally, when it is raining, water tends to run down these “slots.” Just what every pedestrian is looking for, to walk in a river! The wife and I regularly run across the new Hampton overpass, that features this new kind of thinking, and often wonder what nutter gave the okay.
JZ is correct that they will be filled with all sorts of debris that will not easily be washed away during storms. Having said that though, with regard to your comment about great use of mobility devices and carriages, etc. Though people take their scooters and carriages everywhere, many are not designed to be taken everywhere. Perhaps instead of looking at things such as ramps and bus lifts, more attention should be paid to scooter and carriage design instead. While I understand the need to get around (either the person themselves or their children in the carriage), how big is too big? I know I for one am tired of getting ran over by irresponsible owners that cannot drive the scooters or drive (or push in the case of carriages) into places where they were not designed to go: metro busses, the metrolink, inside stores with standard asiles or smaller asiles, etc. There are literally thousands of places where today’s scooters are taken where they have no place being. ADA standards were developed….it’s high time manufacturers realized that with scooters and carriages, bigger is not always better.
C’mon guys, bang the rocks together! These continued “oversights” with the various street improvement/sidewalk reconstruction projects in the City makes one wonder with regard to the education and intelligence of the parties involved.