by eila in Accessibility, Civic Action, Civil and Human Rights, Development and Zoning, Government Reform, Neighborhoods and Squares, Pedestrians, Public Health & Safety, Traffic & Parking, Transportation Projects
Posted on September 17, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Last Modified on September 27, 2009 at 9:51 pm
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Q: Why Didn’t the Rolling Somerville Pedestrian Cross the Road at the Crosswalk?
A: Because the City of Somerville Deciders have been playing chicken with standards.
This photo essay will show 30 lost opportunities to create a safer community on Mayor Curtatone’s watch. All of these streets or sidewalks were reconstructed between 2004- 2008. This is just a selection of 30 unsafe crosswalks- not a comprehensive listing of all the wasteful errors implemented during the 2004-2008 Somerville, MA street reconstructions.
from City of Somerville Traffic and Parking regulations, 2009:
Section 12-1 Pedestrian crossing ways or roadways
Pedestrians shall obey the directions of police officers directing traffic and whenever there is … a marked crosswalk within three hundred (300) feet of a pedestrian, no such pedestrian shall cross a way or roadway except within the limits of the marked crosswalk and as hereinafter provided in these regulations…
from State of MA Architectural Access Regulations, 2006:
521 CMR 21.1 GENERAL
Whenever sidewalks, walkways, or curbs on streets and ways are constructed, reconstructed, or repaired, curb cuts are required. All curb cuts shall comply with the following:
21.2 LOCATION
Curb cuts shall occur wherever an accessible route crosses a curb and at the following locations:
21.2.1 Curb cuts are required at each corner of each intersection, located within the crosswalk and/or the pedestrian path of travel. Curb cuts shall be perpendicular to the curb at street crossings andeach shall have a level landing at the top. At marked crossings, the bottom of the ramp run,exclusive of flared sides, shall be wholly contained with the marked crossing... The crosswalk/pedestrian path of travel must also be perpendicular to the curb.
IN EACH OF THESE CASES, below,
THE CITY OF SOMERVILLE RECONSTRUCTED EITHER THE ROAD
OR THE SIDEWALK
BETWEEN 2004-2008:
1. CUMMINGS SCHOOL PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALKS -on SCHOOL STREET and PRESCOTT STREET. Crosswalks lack curb cuts on both ends.
The Cummings School is still used as Somerville Polling Site for Ward 3, Precinct 2 and subject to 950 CMR 51.00 Polling Accessibility Regulations, in addition to 521 CMR, Architectural Access regulations.
Cummings School, School Street:
Cummings School, Prescott street:
2. BENTON at HIGHLAND PEDESTRIAN CROSSING- NO CURB CUTS within crosswalk
3. TRULL at HIGHLAND PEDESTRIAN CROSSING- no usable curb cuts within crosswalk either side
4. HIGHLAND at VINAL, across from SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL- no curb cut @ Vinal to cross that HIGHLAND AVENUE CROSSWALK
5. NEWTON at WEBSTER AVENUE PEDESTRIAN CROSSING- no curbcuts either side. This is also a BUS STOP
6. CROSSWALK TO SOMERVILLE FIRE PREVENTION BUREAU- no curb cuts on either side, crossing Somerville Avenue at LINDEN
7. CROSS STREET at CHESTER CROSSING TO BUS STOP – no curb cuts
8. CROSS STREET at GILMAN skewed not safe not level, no reciprocal curb cut
9. CROSS at AUBURN no reciprocal curb cut
10. CROSS STREET at TUFTS- Crosswalk not within curb cuts, near CAPUANO SCHOOL
11. CAPUANO SCHOOL CROSSWALK curb cuts not within crosswalk @ Fountain Street- this is the route from Parking Lot to school
12. GLEN PARK COMMUNITY GARDEN- CROSSWALK – curb cuts not within crosswalk
13. CROSS STREET at PEARL 14. GLEN STREET at PEARL- no cuts: curb cuts, skewed crosswalk:
15. OLIVER TO GLEN STREET, and 16. CROSSING GLEN STREET- Curb cuts not within crosswalks:
17. CENTRAL at MEDFORD INTERSECTION- SCHOOL WALK ROUTE AND BUS STOPS. all curb cuts whould be perpendicular to the street and within the crosswalks:
18. HIGHLAND at CENTRAL- same as above:
19. TRUM FIELD at FRANEY ROAD CROSSWALK Curb cut and sidewalk so steeply sloped that rolling pedestrians do not have a safe route to wherever an inclusive TRUM FIELD entrance might be located- if there is one. :
20. FISK STREET and HINCKLEY ST.:
21. MEDFORD STREET and PARTRIDGE: AT BUS STOPS:
22. BROADWAY at PARTRIDGE- no crosswalks to cross Broadway to Bus stops:
23. WALNUT and HIGHLAND- BUS STOP AND CROSSWALK TO CENTRAL LIBRARY- NO CURB CUT IN CROSSWALK:
24. CEDAR at WARWICK near BIKE TRAIL CROSSWALK LEADS TO NO CURBCUT:
25. ROGERS AT BROADWAY, NO SAFE CROSSING anywhere here:
26. NORTH STREET at BOSTON AVENUE- NO SAFE CROSSING AT THESE CROSSWALKS:
27. GLEN and BROADWAY no curb cuts in pedestrian crosswalk- ACROSS FROM EAST SOMERVILLE LIBRARY
28. CROSS STREET at ELLSWORTH- that’s the EDGARLY SCHOOL:
29. WALLACE STREET AT COLLEGE AVE. PEDESTRIAN CROSSING, no curb cuts:
30. SOMERVILLE WEST LIBRARY PEDESTRIAN CROSSWALK NOT PLACED WITHIN CURB CUTS!!!
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Looks like it is time to take on Somerville, much the same way the community took on Boston a couple of years ago. As a direct result Boston is spending more than $25 million over three years to bring about compliance.
John Winske, President
Disability Policy Consortium
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eila, All of your photos are indicative of a major problem in the City of Somerville; but the last photo says it all! To place a public safety crosswalk at a street corner and have it, 1) end at curb & 2) have steel crossing street signals at each end of a common public route is, so completely thoughtless its baffling! I can just imagine a child or an adult running to get across the street, ahead of a vehicle that is traveling at a high rate of speed, and that person running into those crossing light fixtures; now that is public safety at its best; not!
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Somerville seems to be following Boston’s footsteps and not connecting the dots between accessibility and Complete Streets. Keep on cataloging and turn up the heat. You might also take folks on a field trip to Cambridge…
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Hi Eila,
Thanks for bringing this important issue to everyone’s attention. As you know I travel in a wheelchair and face this problem in most every Massachusetts city and town I travel to.
Lack of curb cuts at pedestrian crosswalks is DANGEROUS, UNSAFE AND UNACCEPTABLE!
This dangerous situation, forces many of us wheelchair travelers to wheel on busy city streets.
Keep up the great advocating!
Thanks!
Kenny
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I am so impressed with Eila’s photo documentary and am so frustrated by her findings. I was glad to read the supportive comments left here by others, too.
I wonder whether the city has any plan to fix these mistakes and prevent them in the future? I’d really like to hear the reactions to this from the City and especially from the City’s ADA coordinator.
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Wasn’t there some chatter in the News about Carlene Campbell’s deck chair getting pushed around (again)? Maybe airing the laundry has been paying off…
Couple of quick things: the North St/Boston Ave intersection is in Medford, unless Bob Trane’s been taking manifest destiny a bit too seriously these days.
@ Eila: how do you tackle the issue of curbcuts on a hill? You had discussed Walnut Street in an earlier post – isn’t most of the entire length of the street (up, then down) steeper than 1:12? How does one install a code-compliant curb cut on a hill?
Just wondering. Good luck, and thank you.
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Thank you for bringing that great question, Tricky!
I’m not a design engineer, but am aware of some ways that hills are handled so that wheelchairs don’t do the turtle-flip whenever the running slope of the roadway exceeds 1:12.
One way: since the cut needs to be flush with the street, depressing the whole curb radius to street level may create the needed blended transition.
Another way: raise the crosswalks to sidewalk level- this is a good traffic calming method, too.
Since the running grade of the adjoining street or road often determines the running grade of the sidewalks, the cross-slope will definitely be greater than 2% in hilly areas. In these cases, the City needs to engineer it so that the foot of the cut (ramp) transitions smoothly to the street crossing, and to design it with the least possible slopes. Municipalities can also provide ramps with handrails at steep but crucial intersections; and also do planning in collaboration with the community for accessible route strategies in challenging areas.
Thanks for that important Medford detail too, Tricky!
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Eila, I’ve always applauded your efforts for those with disabilities. The saddest part is that some of the recent work is a mess and we wasted money. Ultimately many if these ramps/curbcuts are going to need to be redone — if only because someone is going to get hurt.
This is what happens when you have don’t have term limits and you allow politicians to consolidate their power. They’re not ever held accountable, so you get contracts awarded based on who-they-know and not what-they-know. I think I mentioned it before that the guys doing some of the curbcuts by Teele Square didn’t speak english and knew nothing about engineering. I assume they were illegals, but their “boss” must have known someone high up to get the contract. Cam you imagine the profit margin on his workers!
You should create a blog or a site for fundraising to get the worst of these areas fixed by donations. I have a funny feeling that if we wait for the city to do it then we’ll all be sleeping on the wrong side of the grass by the time it ever gets done.
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great photo essay, thanks for posting. Intersection of Willow and Summer mirrors the problems of #30. This is also the intersection that the city promised a raised intersection by Summer ’09…we are still waiting….
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Yeah! Summer from Belmont to Cutter was reconstructed in 2006 and is not a continuous accessible route even for two blocks at a time. The Willow/Summer St. intersection has at least 4 building code violations, plus engineering challenges that the City should have included in the bid for contractors. So much for Shape Up Somerville!
Is that promise for the raised intersection in writing? If so, where can we find it, dshugrue?
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Melora Rush and I met with the Mayor on June 2 2008 to discuss traffic safety on Willow Ave. This meeting took place after we participated in a 12 week study of the area with volunteers from various engineering and traffic backgrounds. We made our recommendations to the Mayor and others at his office in city hall. The recommendations were well received and the Mayor promised to help. We documented the meeting in a letter to the editor of the Somerville Journal http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/homepage/x527177668/Letter-Mayor-we-like-your-commitment
For background on the Willow Ave traffic study group pls see http://willave.blogspot.com
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Dan! what an incredible donation you and Melora and the Willow Ave community provided to the Somerville community. Both the bulb-out and the raised crosswalk are good solutions. I hope your expert- and generous- work bears fruit.
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What an important piece of journalism: thanks!
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At the risk of being redundant, I’ll comment again that the epidemic of sidewalk cyclists–especially in Union Square–wreak havoc on the safety of disabled & senior pedestrians!
I believe this comment has a place in this posting about sidewalk hazards to Somerville disabled citizens…
Why isn’t the City enforcing the local ordinance that prohibits sidewalk cycling in the city squares?
The City trumpeted it’s intention to enforce this ordinance last fall…now City Hall has contracted PSA–Public Safety Amnesia!
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In the Somerville Ave. placement of new sidewalks there is surprisingly no curb cuts where there was curb cuts before (for example, currently none at Belmont/Somerville I believe). It is bizarre. Personally, I think of the placements of crosswalks cause problems at several intersections because they are not thought out.
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Add to this list Beacon Street at Sacramento Street. There you find a busy crosswalk linking to Star Market, the Fitchburg Line pedestrian underpass, and crossing the longest unsignalized road stretch in Somerville. No curb cuts on either end of the crosswalk! No ADA accessibility and no personal shopping cart access to Star Market.
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You may have read recently that our redevelopment efforts in Magoun Square have finally paid off with the announcement of $3.1million dollars in federal stimulus money now dedicated to the project.
Several times over the 6 years of planning for this redo, I’ve asked the city to properly address the ADA requirements. It appears that most are being addressed. There is one, however, I am extremely concerned about.
At the apex of Broadway and Medford Street right in the heart of the square, the sidewalk slopes so steeply that it precludes wheelchair access even during the snowless months.
At the City’s September kick-off meeting for the project, I again questioned the city’s consultant, David Giangrande of DCI, why no accomodations were made for easier and safer pedestrian travel on this stretch of sidewalk. The response again was less than satisfactory. Too expensive.
I would be willing to give up all the $3,000 trash barrels, the $2,000 iron benches and the $800 bike rings to make this ADA compliant and safe for pedestrian use.
Any suggestions?
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The same problems sadly exist in Cambridge MA. Ironically Somerville and Cambridge rack up tonnes of money on parking tickets for blocking of so called curb ramps that are nowhere near ADA compliant, and none of this money goes into improving access for disabled citizens.
It gets worse, I just saw a No Turn Right On Red sign in Cambridge next to the Cambridge Hospital Entrance.
Cambridge Health Aliance Hospital Campus near 1522 Cambridge Street in Cambridge.
The sign must be recent 2009 or 2010 because its not on Google Street Search yet.
I hope the idiot who put that sign up realizes that their stupidity and need to put up needless signs to increase parking ticket revenue will people their lives.
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Sorry I guess that last one would be a traffic violation, still stupid though. The only thing that sign stops is people getting into the hospital quickly, nothing else.
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I just found an interesting resource on Cambridge Ramps, here:
http://www.cambridgema.gov/TheWorks/pdffiles/RampsWebPDF.pdf
Look how many ramps are clearly in a bad state of repair and not compliant, pretty shocking. There are the obvious offenders such as the sites with 4 defects (note they only look for 4 defects, so there may be more in reality). But then there are intersections to that are really bad like Prospect St – New Hampshire and Winter St – Sciarappa St which are collectively very bad.
Hey at least Cambridge knows that all there crossings and ramps are in crappy condition and not compliant with ADA guidelines…. just wish they would fix them.
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