Dot Nary, Research Associate for KU’s Research and Training Center on Independent Living, safely utlizes the crosswalk located near 9th and New Hampshire in downtown Lawrence by JayBerm
Use the bus, wheel to work, bike to class or go for a walk on your lunch break. Go ahead, get outside and smell the crisp, Lawrence air! Chances are you’ll burn some calories and save some gas money too. We’ve all heard this before, and it’s pretty clear our society has entered an era of promoting healthy habits and behaviors. But what if you’re like the 54 million other Americans with a disability, who can’t just step outside, jump over a pothole, dodge a car running a red light or listen for oncoming traffic at a crosswalk? Are our roads designed equally for everyone to share and benefit from?
“There’s a catch 22”, says Dot Nary, Research Associate of KU’s Research and Training Center on Independent Living, “I want to spend more time outside, not rely so heavily on my van to get from point A to point B, but often times it’s hard.”
Nary negotiates the community in a wheelchair, and like many Lawrence citizens, she wants to practice those beloved healthy habits too. Unfortunately, many of our sidewalks and streets present her with unwelcoming challenges.
There have been instances when Nary has wheeled down a sidewalk and asked herself, “What’s the curb cut going to be like?”
She has to take additional precautionary measures to make sure she’s completely free from barriers that may prevent her from traveling safely. Nary explains that when the curb cuts are too steep or there are deep cracks or other obstructions in sidewalks, she has to wheel down the driveway and into the road to continue her commute. Typically, Nary will call the city to fix problems. But, she adds, “I can’t always be the curb-cut police.”
Streets in our community must allow safe and comfortable travel for everyone, including people with disabilities. Streets that are truly “complete” provide all of us with a choice of mobility options — without any “catch 22s”. They allow everyone to travel to and from work, school and other destinations with the same level of safety and convenience, whether or not they have mobility, vision or cognitive disabilities.
Even though our roads are not designed equally for everyone, fortunately the state of Kansas has taken particular measures to get us there. “The Kansas Department of Health and Environment encourages communities to complete a “Walkability checklist”, says Jamie Simpson, the Disability Program Coordinator for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. A “Walkability Checklist” basically asks the question, “How walkable is your community?” “All facets of a community should be addressed in a Walkability Checklist, and to assure that this is done in a culturally competent manner, we need people with physical disabilities or those who use multi-modal transportation to be involved with the walkability assessment,” Simpson says. For further information about Walkability Checklists, see: http://www.kdheks.gov/safekids/downloads/checklist-walkability.pdf
By doing this, we create a standard of design to our streets – one in which everyone can benefit from. Implementing a Complete Streets policy in Lawrence can serve as the standard we all need.
A Lawrence Family gets active and bikes around their neighborhood on 5 wheels! by JayBerm
So go ahead, get outside! But this time (oh no, the dreadful catch 22 again), take a look around and really ask yourself if your street is truly complete.
The Lawrence Complete Streets committee will hold a public presentation to explore the connection between land use and transportation policies and the development of "Connected, Livable Communities." Paul Zykofsky, a guest speaker for the Kansas Built Environment and Outdoors Summit, will provide a special free session for the Lawrence Complete Streets Committee following the summit. The public is invited to attend. The event is scheduled on Friday, Oct. 7 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, located at 200 Maine St. in Lawrence. Registration for the event is encouraged and is available online at www.lawrencecompletestreets.org.
Tagged: @LDCHEALTH @LiveWellLawrnce
Comments
kansasplains1 (Lawrence Morgan) says…
What a great picture of Lawrence by Jay Bern that is at the top of the article! And it's a great subject.
But why doesn't Lawrence use LED lights in the pavement which blink when someone crosses the street? There is also a blinking sign with them, which with the LED lights alerts cars and pedestrians?
Plus, there's been a change in curb design. The new curbs are made of metal, so that pedestrains don't slip, and they slant up from the pavement to the sidewalk, so that wheelchairs, etc., also have an easier time with them.
Marilyn_Hull (Marilyn Hull) replies…
The photo was taken by Earl Richardson.
begin60 (anonymous) says…
I personally was always an enthusiastic walker until I landed in the yahoo town of Lawrence where street harassment is the norm. Even with a recent knee injury I'd love to feel the freedom to walk unmolested. I don't care about using a cane. The people who are getting up in my face have a problem with my gait--not me. It's the attitudes and the aggressive, unaware, thick public who refuses to understand they are not God's hick gift to the world and their "help" is actually extremely debilitating and worse than useless. Help equals equal rights and access. They are illegally interfering with not facilitating that.
The local terrain is unfriendly and not all that walkable, but I have even walked in L.A. without complaining. It's the frightening ignorance in Larryville and the zero respect for privacy and decent boundaries( Strangers grab and molest you, and it's terribly offensive to be regarded by f-tards who obviously aren't bright crayons as if you cannot help yourself) that is intolerable. Terribly unfair too--people need their exercise.
These mountain people need to learn to mind their own business. Terrible judgment about when and how it's appropriate to bother strangers.
Toto12 (anonymous) replies…
When is it ok to help? I think those of us who are fully able bodied struggle sometimes with knowing when to help and when not. I helped a cane user the other day by retrieving her cane when she fell down. I stopped, asked if I could help and then was told that I could hand her her cane. I did not touch her in any way, she was able to pull herself up on a railing. I sensed that she appreciated the help in a small way but probably just wanted to be left alone. I couldn't walk by without asking but I also wouldn't presume that this person wanted to be hauled up manually by a stranger. Am I on the right track or should I have just waited to be asked? I don't want to be regarded as a f-tard whatever that is.
kernal (anonymous) says…
One important obstruction not listed is people who park their vehciles on sidewalks, blocking the path for people in wheelchairs and also making it difficult for others. I haven't heard of anyone getting a ticket for that in over a decade in Lawrence, although their is a city ordinance covering those situations.
Marilyn_Hull (Marilyn Hull) says…
Great article, JayBerm! It is worth noting that the person walking behind Dot in the photo is sight-impaired. Complete streets help her too.