Pedestrians Deserve Better Sidewalks

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A quick post proving the general lack of care/maintenance for pedestrian human facilities:

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Water pooling up at the intersection of Wilson and Malden, Chicago, which is not unique to this intersection when it rains. Credit: Shaun Jacobsen.

That’s Wilson and Malden in the Uptown neighborhood in Chicago. I was on my way home from a Participatory Budgeting meeting in the 46th Ward. I’ve already reported this intersection on SeeClickFix because the crosswalk markings are almost completely worn out. With today’s abnormally warm weather and the forecast for the rest of the week dipping below freezing, this (and the rest of the sidewalks nearby, could turn into an impromptu ice skating rink.

Can I fairly call it “impromptu” when it’s designed to place people walking on the sidewalk in a class below the automobile? The roadways are slanted so water collects at the curbs. This is a good way to prevent flooding — as long as you’re only preventing it from affecting cars. If you’re a person walking (and let’s face it, even drivers inevitably become pedestrians at some point), you will become the victim of this sort of negligence. It’s even worse if you depend on a wheelchair or walker or just happen to dislike jumping across puddles to get home.

The City needs to be more attentive to these matters. Unfortunately, 311 is not that attentive to service calls about these things. Their negligence is an issue of quality-of-life.

  • Ryan Wallace

    To be fair, yesterday is not really the best example to use. Given the frozen ground and heavy downpours, localized flooding was expected well in advance of the storm.

    However it is true that flooding at sidewalk ramps is a major issue that CDOT needs to address if they are going to take pedestrian accommodations seriously. I feel it’s important to point out that almost every location that I see with pounding in the sidewalk ramps is NOT at a location where they recently reconstructed the sidewalks. At the newly updated sidewalk locations, CDOT had done a good job of improving the drainage to move water away from pedestrians, so that if it does collect in the curb, it’s not in the sidewalk ramp.

    • http://transitized.com/ Shaun Jacobsen

      I think its fair if its happening. We didn’t really have a huge downpour that’s abnormal for Chicago. It isn’t this bad every time it rains or snow melts, but it is not in good shape.
      The newer sidewalks are nice. Unfortunately there’s more bad than good and there’s just not enough resources to repair it all. Luckily there are lots of people in this neighborhood and others that will speak up and ask for action.

    • http://www.stevevance.net/ Steven Vance

      “At the newly updated sidewalk locations, CDOT had done a good job of improving the drainage to move water away from pedestrians, so that if it does collect in the curb, it’s not in the sidewalk ramp.”

      When they were being built, I wasn’t sure this was the case because the asphalt fill in the roadway around the ramp wasn’t filled until weeks after the sidewalk ramp was reconstructed. I agree that this is the case now.

      • http://twitter.com/aka60643 AKA60643

        When curb ramps are added where street repaving is NOT done around the same time, quality of asphalt fill work is hit or miss. Sometimes it’s decent. In other locations, it creates more spaces for water to pool and effectively pre-installs new potholes right where cyclists turn – a big lose-lose. Better quality control is needed.

        Situations like yesterday’s rain are tough this time of year regardless of curb conditions due to frozen ground. However, situations like the one in the above photo happen too often and shouldn’t happen at all.

  • http://www.stevevance.net/ Steven Vance

    There’s negligence in the design. Alternative designs are available that place drainage in the middle of the road (requiring only one series of inlets instead of two designs) and that use nature to drain instead of Deep Tunnel.

    On California between Wellington and Barry, there was a flood along the curb that occupied the entire parking lane width and about 25 feet of length. It eventually froze into a 4 inches+ thick mass of ice. The solution – applied by whom I don’t know – was to cover it in lots of salt and place a barrier atop. I’ve seen this situation a couple times around town.

    Aside: I’m watching the concrete surrounding a manhole cover in the intersection of California and Barry degrade. It cracked a long time ago, and now what’s underneath one side of the cracked concrete slab has fallen away so that slab is now depressible. I can hear a sound when cars are driven over it. I’ve been taking pictures to document what happens to it. I guess now might be a good time to report it to 311 (via SeeClickFix for its ease of use) so that it can be repaired in the next 6 months; I don’t see it being repaired proactively, though.