City Rules Result in Inept Wheelchair Ramps

posted on Dec 07 by Guest Author in the Disability Law, Disability News, Veterans, Wheelchair Accessibility, Wheelchair Accessibility Laws category

Following a 2008 city ordinance that required a wheelchair accessible curb whenever a street is paved, contractors in Detroit built wheelchair ramps that lead to nothing but grassy fields and impassable sidewalks. The curbs, built on the corners of Grandy and Medbury in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, have turned out to be an eyesore and a display of blind adherence to city codes that do more harm than good.

Contractors and city officials say they were following the rules. That’s their story, and they’re sticking to it. “It is what it is,” says Frank Jacobini, vice president of Major Cement, whose firm has worked on the project. “It’s one of those bureaucratic things that doesn’t make any sense.”

Michael Harris, executive director of a local veterans group that sued the city for better access, agrees. “We agree that it doesn’t make sense to put in curbs where they aren’t needed.”

An attorney representing paralyzed veterans, John M. Finnegan, said, “There’s always going to be a problem in a huge city like Detroit. Detroit is a spectacularly strange situation, and we remain open to negotiation.”

Grandy Street received 13 blocks of new ramps, which cost the city $156,000.  Most of the ramps lead to nowhere. What’s worse is they don’t provide accessibility to either wheelchair users or pedestrians. Detroit officials and residents agree it’s a waste of city funds at a time when the city is in a fiscal crisis.

Detroit is not the only place where adherence to accessibility regulations has had strange results. At a shopping center in Reading, Pennsylvania, a wheelchair ramp was constructed at a crosswalk, but  in this case, the ramp leads right into a concrete wall. Grading for the adjacent building pushed the slope right up to the curb. A retaining wall was designed to cover just the minimum required area, which in this case was the wheelchair ramp—resulting in a wheelchair ramp that is totally useless.

It’s obvious that the designers following these rules are simply not paying enough attention to how the ramps will actually be used by persons with disabilities. These scenarios are a testament to what goes wrong when common sense is not considered in accessibility design.

Sources:
detnews.com/article/20111028/OPINION03/110280374/1409/Obeying-rules–Detroit-builds-wheelchair-ramps-to-nowhere
greatergreaterwashington.org/post/12724/blind-adherence-to-codes-leaves-pedestrians-out-in-the-cold/

Image sources:
detnews.com
greatergreaterwashington.org