Category Archives: Sidewalks

City of Peoria, Peoria Streets, Sidewalks, Streets

Press Release: City of Peoria’s Infrastructure Design Standard Meeting scheduled

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I thought my readers would be interested in this press release I just received from the City of Peoria:

(Peoria, IL)­­—The public is invited to attend the City of Peoria’s Infrastructure Design Standards meeting to discuss the content and implementation of an improved set of public infrastructure standards. The City’s design standards have remained relatively unchanged since 1972. The goal of the proposed standards is to improve infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, handling of storm water, etc.) while positioning Peoria as a desirable place and a competitive city for development.

Public comment and participation in the development of the new standards is desired and welcomed. There will be several opportunities for public involvement. Below are details for the first meeting:

Meeting Topic: Infrastructure Design Standards
Location: Dewberry – 401 Water Street, 7th floor
Date/Time: Wednesday, September 12 from 5:00 – 6:30
Parking: City of Peoria parking lot south of 401 Water Street
Hosts: Dewberry and Peoria Public Works

Mark your calendar for these future meeting dates:

  • Wednesday, September 19 from 5:00 – 6:30
  • Wednesday, September 26 from 5:00 – 6:30

To view the Infrastructure Design Standards power point presentation and make comments, go to www.ci.peoria.il.us/infrastructure. The complete document will be available online at the end of the week. To become part of the focus group, call Ray Lees, Dewberry Architectural Group at (309) 282-8000.

City of Peoria, Sidewalks

Sidewalks, snow, and people with disabilities

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WMBD-TV channel 31 is reporting that disabled residents are having a hard time getting around the city because sidewalks are not cleared of snow. Last month, readers of the Peoria Chronicle debated whether or not residents and businesses should be required to shovel snow off the sidewalk in front of their property. Here’s the answer WMBD heard as a result of their investigation:

[JoAnne] Rose says “I’m in constant fear of getting stuck, and not able to get out, then what do I do.” …She’s now challenging residents put themselves in her shoes– “Tie themselves into a wheel chair where they can’t move their limbs and try to get around.”

The issue regarding pedestrian mobility in Peoria goes beyond removing snow from the sidewalks a few times in the winter. It also involves having sidewalks in the first place, and then keeping them in good repair. Unfortunately, these are the two things the city doesn’t do very well.

There needs to be a comprehensive transportation plan for the city that addresses not just automobile traffic, but all modes of transportation. We need a strategic plan that sets the vision for mobility within the city and has an action plan for reaching that vision over a number of years. It will take a long time to implement because of the cost involved, but nothing will ever change if we aren’t intentional about planning to make the city more accessible. I’m not talking about merely meeting ADA requirements, but actually making the city’s transportation network/infrastructure multi-modal.

Perhaps the Traffic Commission could add that to their work plan, since they don’t appear to have anything else on their agenda.

Sidewalks

Should city require snow to be cleared from sidewalks?

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In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “Private Property, residential or commercial property owners and occupants are required to clear the sidewalks abutting their property of snow or ice within 24 hours after the snow and ice have stopped falling.” An assistance program is provided for senior citizens and disabled persons who have no one in their household physically capable of clearing the snow, or who are unable to contract with someone to clear the sidewalk for them. The cost for the service is added to their property tax bill.

The City of Peoria has no ordinance requiring residential or commercial property owners to clear the sidewalks, nor does the city provide sidewalk-clearing services, leaving pedestrians with no other option but to walk in the street.

The question of the day is: Should Peoria institute a snow-clearing ordinance similar to Milwaukee’s? Why or why not?

Sidewalks

Walk to school on the sidewalks? Not on garbage day

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My fellow commissioner Beth Akeson took these pictures yesterday:

Blocked sidewalk

Blocked sidewalk 2

It wasn’t long ago that there was some controversy over students at Manual High School walking in the street to get to school. The problem near Manual is that sidewalks are in poor repair or nonexistent in several places, forcing children to walk in the street. In these pictures from around St. Philomena school in the West Bluff Central Peoria, evidently the problem is that homeowners block their sidewalks one day a week with garbage cans and bags. Combine that with on-street parking, and where else can children walk but near the middle of the street? (Incidentally, Waste Management’s policy is for the garbage cans to be placed at the curb on the street, not on the sidewalk.)

City of Peoria, CityLink, Sidewalks

The pedestrian experience: University

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About a month ago, I had to take my car in for some repair at the Honda dealership on Pioneer Parkway. While it was in the shop, I decided to try to get around town without a vehicle. That experiment didn’t last too long.

It was over the weekend, and I needed to go into work on a Saturday. I decided to try taking the bus. It was scheduled to arrive about five minutes to nine, so I started to the bus stop at a quarter till. It doesn’t take but maybe four minutes to walk to the bus stop, and I can see the intersection while I’m walking to it. Before I’ve walked for even two minutes, I see the bus go by. It came early — almost ten minutes early. Since it was a Saturday, the buses only run once an hour.

Well, I only live about two and a half miles from work, and I figured I could walk there in less than an hour, so I started off north on University from Columbia Terrace. I was walking on the west side of the road, down the hill, over the interstate, and up to Nebraska. Looking across Nebraska, I could see that there was no sidewalk next to the cemetery, but there was a sidewalk on the east side of the street, so I crossed at the light.

Now I’m walking north on the east side of University. The sidewalk is narrow — about four feet across — and it abuts the roadway where cars are going by at roughly 40-45 miles per hour. The sidewalk is uneven, crumbling in places, and completely missing on a couple of parcels. If anyone were trying to navigate this in a wheelchair, it would be impossible… and impassible, for that matter.

But the coup de grâce was when I was approaching McClure. Remember, there is no signaled intersection at which to cross University between Nebraska and McClure. City crews were doing some roadwork north of McClure on the east side of the road, meaning I was going to have to cross back to the west side of University to avoid them. There was just one problem — before I could get to the intersection, there was a large orange sign completely blocking the sidewalk. The city crews, in order to alert drivers that there was road work ahead, had put up a large, temporary orange sign right smack in the middle of the sidewalk. The only way around it was to walk in the yard or the street. If a person were in a wheelchair, there would be no way around it at all.

At that point, my mother-in-law happened to be driving by with my kids in her car, and they saw me walking along the road and stopped to pick me up, so my pedestrian experience came to an end.

Conclusion: Peoria really needs to improve its sidewalks and its mass transit service. The buses need to be more frequent, and the sidewalks need to be repaired and maintained — and made ADA-compliant. The city is starting to focus on the sidewalk issue, and in fact just had a policy session about sidewalks last night. CityLink, meanwhile, is looking at adding more destinations. I think it would be better for them to focus on improving their bus stops and the frequency of their buses.