Most signalized intersections in St. Louis don’t require pedestrians to push buttons to get a “walk” sign, but this is changing as sidewalks & signals are updated. The biggest challenge is hunting for the right button to press. Take 14th & Olive, for example.
The NW corner has both buttons on the same poll, top for Olive, lower for 14thThe NE corner also has both buttons on the same poll, top for Olive, lower for 14thLike the others, the SE corner has both buttons on the same poll, top for Olive, lower for 14thThe SW corner, however, is totally different from the other 3 corners. The button on the left is next to the ramp to cross Olive, but it is for 14th. The button at right is closest to the ramp to cross 14th, but controls Olive. What were they thinking?
On the SW corner I’m not sure why both buttons aren’t on the same poll, with the top one for Olive, the one already controls the 14th signal. Typically when the buttons are separated from each other the one nearest a ramp controls that signal.
Every time I go through this intersection I forget and have to circle around to hit the right button. I’m not sure if this can easily be rectified, but I’ll find out.
Seniors (65+) and the disabled can ride Metro for half price, but a reduced fare permit is required. Seniors have several options on obtaining such a permit, the MetroRide store downtown, for example. The disabled, like myself, must visit Metro’s Transit Access Center at 317 DeBaliviere. Let’s pretend we’re newly disabled and need to get a reduced-fare permit, for the first time. We arrive on the #90 (Hampton) MetroBus or via MetroLink at the Forest Park station. Remember this station opened twenty years ago, and was altered significantly in 2006 when the extension to Shrewsbury was built.
We get off the bus or come up from the platform on the east side of DeBaliviere and head north to find our destination.
Based on the map online the Transit Access Center must be located in the strip mall over there.This curb ramp has nothing to do with the crosswalk, no curb ramp exists on the other end of the crosswalk. When the light turns green we’ll have to head over to the auto drive where cars will be leaving.Made it across safely, there’s our destinationDrat, no ramps on either side of the driveway! We could enter the auto driveway and hope we find a ramp before a vehicle backs over us, but none are visible from this point. Let’s continue along the public sidewalk to see if we can find another way in or our destination.There’s a ramp to the right of that car, we can’t reach it from here due to planter/curb/parking, We could go back and risk getting backed over or continue until we see our destination. I say we keep looking for a safe route.Oh, there’s the Transit Access Center, there must be a pedestrian route down further.See, I knew we’d find a direct way! Oh wait…Naturally a curb is in our wayAll the way on the far end is a route to reach the storefronts from the public sidewalk.We get to the door and we’re glad it has an automatic opener, but it doesn’t work when pressed. “It’s never worked”, says the person inside when we mention it.Leaving we see the problems from the other sideStill too risky to go behind parked cars, why must it be such a challenge?The fix here in this privstely-owned development is pretty simple actually, just replace a couple of curbs with ramps.
I’m not sure how long the Transit Access Center has been a tenant in this building, at least 4 years. The building was built in 1988, two years before the ADA and five years before the MetroLink opened. But for the last twenty years this development adjacent to a light rail station hasn’t been very accessible.
Again, this is the location every disabled person that seeks a reduced-fare permit must go. Granted, access from disabled parking is easy enough but many who need the permits can’t drive. For the disabled, independence is very important.
A year ago the 3949 Lindell Apartments were a burt out mess, but now they’re nearly rebuilt.
Just over a year later the rebuild is nearly complete.As seen on July 19, 2012 passing by on the #10 MetroBus
Looks like the same basic design, with some details being different. Notably, the large windows are now have black frames rather than white.
Immediately to the east a new CVS is under construction.
CVS tried to raze the former offices of the St. Louis Housing Authority a half a block to the west and later they wanted to raze the round AAA building, they were rebuffed at both sites. They wanted a store in this area so they were forced to adapt. AAA has also announced they will renovate their building since they were denied a demolition permit.
With the CVS being built on the AAA parking lot the former lawn is now parking.Pedestrians had a path from the sidewalk to the front door, but now the lawn is now auto parking. Hopefully they plan a new pedestrian route when construction is complete.
Once all three are finished I’ll visit to see how they connect to the sidewalks on Lindell and McPherson, as well as to each other.
Twenty-three years ago today our 41st president, George H.W. Bush, signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 into law. At that time I was still living in Oklahoma, just 23 years old. I’d completed all but one course for a bachelor degree in architecture, though I don’t recall the idea of accessibility ever coming up in my 5 years in school. Accessibility was on the radar of some, but it wasn’t law so it was easily ignored.
I had no idea that just 18 years later I’d come to be so thankful the bi-partisan congress passed the law and the president signed it.
President Bush was 66 on the day he stood on the south lawn of the White House and talked about the bill, click image to watch on C-SPAN (under 4 min)
Today Bush, 89, is seen publicly in a wheelchair — not standing. He’s got a Secret Service detail to help him, he’s not going grocery shopping or taking the bus to the doctor like us regular folks.
Don’t think this doesn’t apply to you, the statistics around disability are eye opening to many:
Just over 1 in 4 of today’s 20 year-olds will become disabled before they retire.
Over 37 million Americans are classified as disabled; about 12% of the total population. More than 50% of those disabled Americans are in their working years, from 18-64.
8.8 million disabled wage earners, over 5% of U.S. workers, were receiving Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits at the end of 2012.
In December of 2012, there were over 2.5 million disabled workers in their 20s, 30s, and 40s receiving SSDI benefits. (source)
If not you in your working life, then likely a family member, friend, or co-worker.
As I show often there is a lot of work to be done, but without the ADA I couldn’t live the independent life I lead.
Last month I posted how the St. Louis Hills Medical Center violates the ADA. In short, the building’s original design predated the ADA by a few decades and the 2008 renovations didn’t fix the problem. Here are a few photos from that post:
The original 1950s entrance wasn’t accessible to all.The route to a new entrance contains a flight of stairs, also not accessible to all.
Since that post I met with a representative of the building owner as well as Eddie Roth, Director of Operations in the mayor’s office.
A drawing on the building website shows what should’ve been built, the private sidewalk from the space next door was supposed to be continue in front of the original entry, eliminating the steps.Here’s the original entry again with the new sidewalk next door circled in red, the walk to the original entry is also newish concrete.Here’s the view next door looking toward the old entrance.
During the construction work a few years ago someone made a decision to not follow the architect’s design, resulting in lack of ADA-compliance.
The owner’s representative indicated the building remains vacant, and they aren’t interested in making changes. If only they’d followed the architect’s plans there would be no problems gaining access into the building from the public sidewalk.
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