Hey all,
Lets talk accessibility of the park sidewalk
I've created this thread to track interest and progress on the topic. Please feel free to encourage others to read and contribute to this thread.
Dave Travis recently spoke to Veronica from the Parks dept about some of his accessibility concerns. Dave, please feel free to post what you learned in the forum.
Thanks,
Nick
Fox park sidewalk talk
Re: Fox park sidewalk talk
Paula hasn't established access to the forum yet so I'm posting a draft of what she'd like to send to the city. (Paula, I left out your phone number in case you don't want that publicly online)
Dear ....Fox Park renovation project manager, Mr. Simon and Councilor Rogers,
This spring the 20+ year old ADA accessible sidewalk on the west side of Fox Park along Alvarado Drive between San Juan and Marquette NE was removed and replaced with a gravel pathway. The pathway does not appear to be stabilized and compacted, is tilting toward the street more than a 2% grade, and is not bordered on its western edge. All of those things would make it more passible, but not necessarily ADA compliant. It is barely accessible to the able bodied, but certainly not to people using wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and strollers or little kids on scooters and tricycles. This new gravel section does not serve anyone.
The over 20 year old sidewalk that was installed as part of a park renovation when my mom was still alive and in a wheelchair had about four or five sections that needed repair. The former sidewalk allowed me to get her to the park to enjoy a green space in her generally dreary days.
I participated in all the early park design meetings for the current park renovations during Covid and after. At that time it was decided to repair and replace parts of the sidewalk in Fox Park that were cracked or uneven. Because of health reasons and other interruptions, I did not participate in the final design meetings.
Several years ago I was involved in the Fox Park sidewalk installation. Over the 20 years that the sidewalk was there children learning to ride bikes, people using walkers and wheelchairs and others used this pathway. I am dismayed that it has been removed and replaced with a slanted gravel path which is not accessible to anyone.
I was a City of Albuquerque planner for 26 years and during that time worked closely with the Parks Department and Public Works to ensure better universal design and ADA compliance in public spaces.. It seems we are going backwards just when the rest of the country is moving toward universal accessibility to urban green spaces.
I was recently at the Rio Grande Nature Center and they have done a lot to stabilize their paths and trails... My understanding is that well-built compacted crusher-fine paths still require regular maintenance. Isn't continual maintenance more costly than sidewalk fixes? Shouldn't we be doing better in the neighbohood parks that serve so many?
When a public space no longer serves the old (with walkers and wheelchairs), the very young (in strollers and on tricycles, etc) and people with limitations, it is no longer a public space. I feel we have gone backward in ignoring universal design in the neighborhoods.
What happened and how can this be fixed in Fox Park?
Sincerely
Dear ....Fox Park renovation project manager, Mr. Simon and Councilor Rogers,
This spring the 20+ year old ADA accessible sidewalk on the west side of Fox Park along Alvarado Drive between San Juan and Marquette NE was removed and replaced with a gravel pathway. The pathway does not appear to be stabilized and compacted, is tilting toward the street more than a 2% grade, and is not bordered on its western edge. All of those things would make it more passible, but not necessarily ADA compliant. It is barely accessible to the able bodied, but certainly not to people using wheelchairs, walkers, canes, and strollers or little kids on scooters and tricycles. This new gravel section does not serve anyone.
The over 20 year old sidewalk that was installed as part of a park renovation when my mom was still alive and in a wheelchair had about four or five sections that needed repair. The former sidewalk allowed me to get her to the park to enjoy a green space in her generally dreary days.
I participated in all the early park design meetings for the current park renovations during Covid and after. At that time it was decided to repair and replace parts of the sidewalk in Fox Park that were cracked or uneven. Because of health reasons and other interruptions, I did not participate in the final design meetings.
Several years ago I was involved in the Fox Park sidewalk installation. Over the 20 years that the sidewalk was there children learning to ride bikes, people using walkers and wheelchairs and others used this pathway. I am dismayed that it has been removed and replaced with a slanted gravel path which is not accessible to anyone.
I was a City of Albuquerque planner for 26 years and during that time worked closely with the Parks Department and Public Works to ensure better universal design and ADA compliance in public spaces.. It seems we are going backwards just when the rest of the country is moving toward universal accessibility to urban green spaces.
I was recently at the Rio Grande Nature Center and they have done a lot to stabilize their paths and trails... My understanding is that well-built compacted crusher-fine paths still require regular maintenance. Isn't continual maintenance more costly than sidewalk fixes? Shouldn't we be doing better in the neighbohood parks that serve so many?
When a public space no longer serves the old (with walkers and wheelchairs), the very young (in strollers and on tricycles, etc) and people with limitations, it is no longer a public space. I feel we have gone backward in ignoring universal design in the neighborhoods.
What happened and how can this be fixed in Fox Park?
Sincerely
Re: Fox park sidewalk talk
I just spoke with Victoria Blount of the parks dept today and she mentioned a regrading of the sidewalk is in the works (sometime in the next few weeks) in large part due to neighbor Dave T. highlighting his inability to use the path as it currently exists with his walker. More updates to come as I get them
Re: Fox park sidewalk talk
Veronica included us on an email to other CABQ depts with the latest comm related to the plans to regrade the sidewalk. I'll post the body of the email below
The path along the east side of the park where the concrete sidewalk had been removed and is now gravel needs to be leveled a bit better for ADA usage. A resident within the neighborhood brought it to our attention that although its fairly smooth, there is a bit of a slope that angles down from the mow curb to the street curb and makes it very difficult to walk steadily with a walker. Gloria mentioned that she had spoken with you Antonio about this? I wanted to check in and see if there was a scheduled plan to get this path adjusted so that it was a bit more level and not sloped.