New Sidewalk Wheelchair Ramps in the City of Detroit where no one lives

[Mikeg]

The ramps like this installed in dearborn 10 years ago already have the knobs shearing off. They don't seem to hold up.

from an engineering perspective i really don't see how the larger knobs make better grips for wheelchairs. They seem too large......

Those are called "detectable warning surfaces" and the knobs are not for traction but for the visually-impaired to be able to find their way down the sidewalk ramp and locate the place where they can safely stand without stepping into the traffic lane.

I just happened to notice this suburban intersection today:



It has 8 of these recently-installed "detectable warning surfaces" and given where they were installed [[probably in violation of the ADA design requirements) I fail to see how a blind person will ever find them. Common sense should have told the city engineers and their cement contractor that this was a total waste of time and money.

[wolverine]

Can you verifty "nobody" or complete abandonment?

Yes.

In fact there are ares in the city with up to 10 contiguous blocks of abandonment. Wish I could post some visuals and data, but I can't do that. Guess you'll have to take my word.

This is why the city wants to be cut some slack. We all know there are spots that will have a grand total of zero population on a city block, and the block across from that. I'd rather see no investment in the unoccupied block, and new sidewalks placed in front places like bus stops. But since you don't seem to believe entirely empty blocks exist, I won't bother to go any further on this.

In my opinion, sidewalks should be up to code. Everywhere.

Cool, you wanna pay for it? If yes, we can choose the most desolate street corner and engrave your name in it lol!

Let's be rational here, the city has lost over half of its population. "Everywhere" may have places in the middle of nowhere.

Again, I'd rather have seen this money spent on improving handicapped access at bus stops or at busy street intersections. The place people will need assistance the most.

[Richard]

Those are called "detectable warning surfaces" and the knobs are not for traction but for the visually-impaired to be able to find their way down the sidewalk ramp and locate the place where they can safely stand without stepping into the traffic lane.

I just happened to notice this suburban intersection today:



It has 8 of these recently-installed "detectable warning surfaces" and given where they were installed [[probably in violation of the ADA design requirements) I fail to see how a blind person will ever find them. Common sense should have told the city engineers and their cement contractor that this was a total waste of time and money.

I wonder if it has something to do with having to be behind to solid white line?

I also wonder how bad the neighborhoods would really be have not the generations of theft of neighbor reinvestment funds and where are they now?

The population may have shrunk but taxes are still being charged for road/sidewalk maintenance so taxes collected on all of those properties whether vacant or not are still being collected and not allotted?

[animatedmartian]

In fact there are ares in the city with up to 10 contiguous blocks of abandonment. Wish I could post some visuals and data, but I can't do that. Guess you'll have to take my word.

Here's a few examples.

http://g.co/maps/mr8ry

http://g.co/maps/p4n98

http://g.co/maps/qca2n

http://g.co/maps/u36fu

Another thing is that these images are probably a year or two old ... If I'm disabled and live in these areas, I'd hope my wheel chair has all wheel drive. If I'm blind, fuggedaboutit.

[Goose]

this is a symptom of the problems of why people are sick of being taxed.... politicians take what is a good idea [[access for handicapped) and take it to the nth degree in political correctness and waste.... those corners are nice, but its like putting a welcome sign and entrance ramp into a mine field... there is no common sense shown when these projects are undertaken, its tax dollars at work, and you damn well know that the contractor involved got paid well to spend this money......

[DetroitPlanner]

Believe me. Detroit/s DPW would have rather spent the money on resurfacing roads or fixing bridges. This would have employed just as many people as building ramps.

[bartock]

I wonder if it has something to do with having to be behind to solid white line?

I also wonder how bad the neighborhoods would really be have not the generations of theft of neighbor reinvestment funds and where are they now?

The population may have shrunk but taxes are still being charged for road/sidewalk maintenance so taxes collected on all of those properties whether vacant or not are still being collected and not allotted?

Do you really think that taxes are being collected on those vacant lots? I don't.

[Danny]

The ADA codes recommand all cities, suburbs, villages, townships to have ramped sidewalks. Even the blighted areas.

[1953]

This morning there were 2 lanes of East Jefferson closed, one in each direction, so that crews could tear up and replace never-used corner ramps.

[ferntruth]

This morning there were 2 lanes of East Jefferson closed, one in each direction, so that crews could tear up and replace never-used corner ramps.

I'm just curious - how do we know they were never used?

[rjk]

It's interesting how a wheelchair bound person can't get into a restaurant like Polish Village Cafe because of the steps [[Grandfathered in I'm assuming?) without some help, but they can go a few miles south and go up countless ramps that lead them to a deadend.

There had to be a way that the city could have skipped some of those areas and just made the main road sidewalks wheelchair accessible. The problem probably was that coming up with a plan was a lot more difficult than blowing tax dollars.

[Richard]

Do you really think that taxes are being collected on those vacant lots? I don't.

No,but it would be a good place to start, I also think for some extra cash on the side one can make their property disappear from the tax rolls.

[DetroitPlanner]

the PVC is not a public facility. However if it ever goes through a major renovation, they will be required to put those things in as part of the site plan review.

[1953]

ferntruth...I was taking some written liberties by suggesting they were "never" used, of course, but its probably not far from the truth. The stretch of walk that is being replaced is far from pedestrian friendly; it has vacant and single use buildings, many of which are set back from the street and guarded by fences or shrubbery. A person who is interested in walking would be disinclined to walk there, not to mention someone with mobility difficulties.

1953

[Detroit68]

DETNEWS once again grabbing news stories from DetroitYes:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20111...mps-to-nowhere

[Dexlin]

There had to be a way that the city could have skipped some of those areas and just made the main road sidewalks wheelchair accessible. The problem probably was that coming up with a plan was a lot more difficult than blowing tax dollars.

With as quickly as change [[decline) occurs in Detroit, it makes it very hard to plan anything, efficiently. The Detroit Works Project is a start, but you can only do so much planning ahead in a city that literally lost 65 residents every. single. day. of the year [[and nearly 2,000 a month) over the last decade. If you have any kind of large project where it takes a year or two to plan, or a court settlement that can drag on for years, by the time you've planned and implemented a program or settlement in any area of the city, a neighborhood could literally be gone by then with you still being obligated to service it by penalty of law.

I'm not very familiar with this area, but more than poor planning it sounds to me reading today's article on it [[despite Donna's naive insistence that you can wave a wand and move money legally earmarked for a particular project) that this is more a case of the city declining way faster than any level of government [[local, state or fed) can conceivably work.

[Novine]

You can tell how car-centric Detroit is that no one seems to bat an eye about spending money to repave a desolate street but everyone is obsessed with the sidewalk ramps. The sidewalk ramps were only put in because the street was repaved. If there's no need for ramps because no one lives on the street, why was the street paved? You can bet that the cost of repaving the street was 10 times what it cost to put in the ramps.