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Manchester Ave More Accessible Than Expected

August 31, 2013 Accessibility, Featured, South City, Walkability 5 Comments

I highlight accessibility problems all the time, like Tuesday & Thursday, so today I’m going to talk about the pleasant surprise I discovered on Monday. I ended up at Manchester & Macklind well before the westbound MetroBus was due, so I headed west. I knew this stretch of Manchester Ave isn’t a trendy neighborhood so I wasn’t sure what to expect as I rolled along passing the time.

Manchester Rd @ Pierce
Manchester Ave @ Pierce was one of many cross streets with new ramps

Pleasantly rather than find obstacles at every cross street I found new ADA ramps. Plus they are directional, meaning I could actually continue in a straight path rather than be directed out into Manchester Ave.

This truck wasn't even a problem because the driver parked such that I had room to go to the right and behind.
This truck wasn’t even a problem because the driver parked such that I had room to go to the right and behind. Approaching I thought I’d have a problem getting by.
I was able to travel 1.1 miles westbound on Manchester before I encountered a problem preventing me from continuing
I was able to travel 1.1 miles westbound on Manchester before I encountered a problem preventing me from continuing. Not sure who poured the new concrete here, my guess is someone other than the city.

So at least 1.1 miles of Manchester Ave from Macklind to Dale (map) is now accessible. Because MoDOT is resurfacing Manchester they updated the accessibly, as required by federal guidelines.

As for the problem I encountered above I got this reply from Streets director Todd Waelterman: “At this particular intersection, sewers and the proximity of buildings did not allow them to install a compliant ramp. Thus we are utilizing the ramp a few feet north and will be placing signs to indicate such access.”

I was prepared to wait for the bus at Macklind, so I was very happy I could spend the wait moving in that direction.

— Steve Patterson

 

Currently there are "5 comments" on this Article:

  1. wimpple says:

    Tod waterman responds to you? Wow. Must help to havge the blog. I here the guy in denver in better…

     
    • Tom says:

      Guys in my office who interact often with Todd Waelterman say that he is always responsive, open-minded, realistic and fair. Can’t imagine anyone in any other part of the country would be any easier to work with!

       
  2. moe says:

    I am very surprised at all the work going on in at least South City regarding new handicapped cross walks. Arsenal, Chippewa, Gravois…long, long stretches being remedied. I can only think that the City received a very large grant to get caught up on all this work. Most likely part of the stimulus money, which is good because this work wouldn’t get done elsewise.

     
  3. Scott Ogilvie says:

    A lot of the work being done lately is by MoDOT on MoDOT controlled roads (Manchester, Chippewa, etc.) as part of their regular maintenance cycle. The City is always slowly upgrading the other accessibility issues.

     
    • JZ71 says:

      “Slowly” being the operative word – if it were a true priority (like funding pensions), it would’ve been completed by now!

       

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