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The Somerville Commission for Persons with Disabilities is advocating for revitalization of public pathways for the safety of all residents, but in particular those with physical impairments.
By Shira Laucharoen
The Somerville Commission for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD) held a public meeting on July 10 at the Cross Street Center with the purpose of discussing sidewalk revitalization. Senior engineer with the city’s Engineering Department Brian Postlewaite led a conversation on how disability concerns might be accounted for in the development of pathways, making it “more comfortable for anybody to walk.”
Postlewaite gave a presentation on street projects meant to “look at streets from a holistic standpoint,” taking into account the “diversity of people in Somerville and the way they use our streets, making sure these spaces are available to the public at large.” He explained the city’s intention of examining sidewalks, crosswalks, and ramps and improving them to meet the needs of people who may have physical impairments.
Those who attended the meeting reviewed a map that highlighted key areas where services such as libraries, hospitals, and schools are clustered, with the purpose of identifying routes to consider. The next step in the project will include refining the map and analyzing which sidewalks are most valuable and which are in the worst condition, to figure out which spaces should be a priority.
The SCPD works in conjunction with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Services to ensure equality and protect the rights of individuals with disabilities. The team strives to cultivate an environment in the city that is free of discrimination and harassment by supporting equal access to programs and services, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Act, passed in 1990, prohibits discrimination against those with disabilities, in areas such as work life, education, and transportation, as well as in places open to the general public. To accomplish its goals, the SCPD offers residents the information, resources, and opportunities they need and seeks to overcome the barriers they may face.
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While I agree that our sidewalks are in great need of repair, I don’t think it’s going to make any real improvements here for the disabled if they are updated.
Many of our very old streets are already narrow, and it’s bad enough trying to navigate a narrow two-way street in a car when you can reach out and touch the other car as it passes you. But the City would likely have to widen many of our existing sidewalks to accommodate the ADA regulations, and that would make these narrow streets even narrower.
Also think about that when the plows come by in the winter, and we also have to clear those now-wider sidewalks of snow. It’s bad enough trying to clear the ones we have when the plows throw snow back over the whole sidewalk.
I think that it would probably benefit the disabled more to allow them to use bike lanes for wheelchairs, and make sure that there is easy access to buildings by having better openings from the street. We could even take it as a case-by-case basis for those disabled who really need these changes in their area, instead of changing the entire city.
I know there’s no clear solution here, but the City needs to remember that we are an extremely old city. To update sidewalks means you have to also update streets, and it’s simply not going to be feasible without completely overhauling everyone’s property line to make them all wide enough to allow for cars, bikes, and the disabled.
Let’s have some common sense and realize that we cannot make an old city new without impossibly wiping it all out and starting over, and try to at least improve what we have to work with by repairing the existing sidewalks without widening them.
Not so sure I have a lot of trust in the city on this. Two spots on my street had sidewalks raised by tree roots. The city ripped out the concrete and put asphalt over the spot and painted it (poorly) grey to try to match the sidewalk.