In August 2011 I addressed part of the parking issue at Vito’s on Lindell (see Where is Vito’s Disabled Parking?). Last week I had dinner at Vito’s, going in I spotted another problem with how their parking lot is designed.
ABOVE: Tail end of a car at Vito’s takes up half the public sidewalk
This car is parked in what appears to be a legitimate parking space in their lot. The problem is the space isn’t even long enough for a smart fourtwo so any car parked in the space sticks out into the public sidewalk.
The city has minimum requirements for the size of parking spaces, and the sidewalk can’t be counted toward the minimum. Vito’s needs to redesign their parking lot to provide a disabled space and to eliminate this space that extends over the sidewalk.
When you use a wheelchair to get to the store to buy groceries and pick up prescriptions snow-covered sidewalks are a major barrier. Thankfully we don’t get much snow and most downtown property owners do a good job clearing the sidewalks.
ABOVE: By noon on February 23rd the sidewalk on Washington Ave east of Tucker had been cleared of the snow.
But problems remain, such as parking lot owners pushing snow onto sidewalks.
ABOVE: 40 minutes later the sidewalk on 11th (between Pine & Olive) was quite different
The sidewalk above is the same one I posted about recently. I even went to the offices of St. Louis Parking to complain but clearly they don’t care about pedestrians or the law.
ABOVE: CPI routinely pushes snow from their parking lot onto the 16th Street sidewalk I use regularly, their parking lot is clear and bone dry. Taken the same day as the rest of the pics in this post.
This is why we must require a physical barrier like a fence or planter between parking lots and sidewalks. It’s required now but existing lots aren’t required to get updates nor does the city prevent the owners from illegally using the public sidewalk for snow storage.
The other big issue I encounter is curb ramps.
ABOVE: Pedestrians wear a nice path in the snow but this doesn’t necessarily correspond to the location of the curb ramp.
This situation is largely the result of a design flaw with how our curb ramps were designed and installed. Rather than aligning with the standard pedestrian flow they’re at the apex of the corners, pointing toward the center of the intersections rather than the next sidewalk across the street.
I’m used to building entrances being oriented to auto driveways, such is the case at the Omni Majestic Hotel at 1019 Pine St. This hotel does have a pedestrian sidewalk to get from the public sidewalk to the entrance.
The design flaw is that it’s too easily overtaken by vehicles and used as additional parking, as happened on the morning of February 12th when I attended a breakfast meeting in the restaurant off the lobby.
ABOVE: The entrance to the Omni Majestic Hotel on Pine faces the mid-block circle drive.ABOVE: Moving closer we see the first SUV parked out of the way for other vehicles.ABOVE: The problem is this leaves very little of the walkway for pedestrian use.ABOVE: Looking from the entrance back out to Pine Street.ABOVE: The SUV is just outside an emergency exit
This SUV was here when I arrived and when I left an hour later. Though the driveway and sidewalk are different colors, the fact they are level encourages drivers to park here.
A couple of tasteful bollards are needed to keep the walkway open, a link to this post will be sent to the Omni.
Walking next to One Memorial Drive/Gateway Tower is about as bleak as it gets in St. Louis. Look to the east and you can see the Old Cathedral and Arch, but right next to you is rock and a tall blank wall. The other day at least a few vehicles parked on the beige rock added some visual interest.
ABOVE: Construction workers parking between the Memorial Drive sidewalk and the blank wall of One Memorial Drive
I’m an advocate of on-street parking because it creates a nice fixed barrier between traffic and pedestrians. Conversely, I generally oppose parking between sidewalk and building because it creates a fixed barrier limiting pedestrian access. Here the area nearest our big national monument is so dismal the vehicles were a welcomed sight. The contempt for the pedestrian in 1966 is clearly evident. Pathetic!
Businesses have to attract customers to stay in business, I get that. I’ve written before about Shrinking Sidewalks where businesses place their sign directly in the pedestrian route. Earlier this week the problem was moved to the crosswalk at 14th & Washington Ave.
ABOVE: The sign is placed right at the point where the ramp meets the crosswalk.ABOVE: Here you can see looking across 14th that the sign is placed directly in the way
This is the only time I’ve seen this sign in the crosswalk, later in the week it was on the sidewalk mostly out of the way. Hopefully it won’t be back in the crosswalk.
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