pages: TransportationCommission/2007-04-25.pdf, 7
This data as json
body | date | page | text | path |
---|---|---|---|---|
TransportationCommission | 2007-04-25 | 7 | "The City of Alameda has put a great deal of effort into making pedestrian crossings as safe as possible. Do not take a step backwards! "Although there are ramps located at the supercrosswalk at Otis, there are unrecognized ADA problems with putting a bus at Lum School. The only reason to place a bus stop on Otis at Willow and Grand is to attract riders. There are no cross streets in this area. North of Otis are one-block dead-end cul de sacs with low-density, single-family houses. South of Otis are four blocks of housing: two blocks of single family, and two blocks of medium-density apartments and condos. The bulk of the potential riders reside south of Otis. To get to Otis from the south, there are two routes: One is Ivy Walk, which leads directly to Otis. The other is Snowberry Walk which leads you into the back of Lum School, then along a driveway through the Lum School grounds to Sandcreek Way, approximately one block distance, then along Sandcreek Way for one block to Otis. "ADA Problem #1: When school is not in session, there is a chain attached with a padlock across the driveway through Lum School. I can step over the chain, but a handicapped person cannot. You will have to tell the principal at Lum School to stop using the chain. Whatever the reason the chain serves will be eliminated. I do not know, but I suspect the chain reduces the likelihood of vandalism, as this driveway leads past the office entrance, which is not visible from the street or from the residences in the area. Also, as this parking lot is not visible from the street, and school is only in session during the day, and then only 185 days out of a 365 day year, the same reasons for closing the gates to the parking lot at Crown Beach at sunset would be in play for limiting access to this parking lot. "ADA Problem #2: There is no ADA ramp to get up only the sidewalk on Sandcreek Way. My wife is disabled; we went to vote at Lum School last election. We used the supercrosswalk, but when we got to the area near the school office where the voting booths were located, there was no ADA ramp to get off the sidewalk to the driveway that leads to the office. This is the same driveway that would be used by people cutting through the schoolyard to get to a bus stop, should one be placed at Lum School. "The City has indicated the building a bus stop at Ivy Walk would require painting and marking a crosswalk. I pointed out that the crosswalk at Heather Walk and Heather Isle does not have a painted crossing. That is the very next bus stop west of Grand. However, I was informed that the regulations now require newly installed bus stops to have a marked crossing, and the Arlington Isle stop does not need a crossing because it is grandfathered in under the old regulations. I do not believe that painting a crosswalk near Ivy Walk will encourage students at Lum School to cross Otis when they have the supercrosswalk at Lum School. "To summarize: No one (other than an unnamed person on City staff) wants the bus stops. Shelve this proposal, and revisit it someday if someone actually expresses a need for a bus stop and you can buy the extra few minutes of run time that will be needed. And if you are absolutely compelled to put in a stop, put it on the safe side of crosswalks and intersecting streets so that it does not interfere with the visibility needed by us old, gray-headed pedestrians crossing this heavily used street, and vehicles entering the traffic on Otis Drive. A stop at Ivy Walk would be much safer than a stop at Lum School or a stop at Willow. Sincerely, Peter Muzio." 7 | TransportationCommission/2007-04-25.pdf |