Have you ever really taken a good look at the sidewalks? I never really paid that much attention to them, at least not until I was in a wheelchair. If something was in my way, whether it be a broken up section, an uneven transition between pads, or a lack of curb cuts at intersections, it didn't catch my eye. It does now.
I am in a battle right now with Baltimore County. I am trying to convince them that trying to transverse the sidewalks is a dangerous proposition, so far I haven't had any luck. I live in a residential neighborhood with average traffic flow. Because the sidewalks are in such bad shape I tend to travel in the roadway, taking my time and being aware of my circumstances. Two things I am looking for, a curb cut at the middle school, at the back of the parking lot, and two curb cuts that are at the end of streets that dead end into another road. The county school board has told me that there is no money in the budget for the curb cut at the middle school. Furthermore they have stated that it would not be safe for me to travel through the parking lot because there are no sidewalks to travel on. I find it ironic that this is the same parking lot that the children walk in on their way to school. The county also told me that they are unable to put sidewalk cuts at non-four-way intersections.
The county put in pretty new cuts at four-way stop signs in my neighborhood, this is what you encounter not 50 feet down from one of those new intersection cuts. I have asked my County Councilman on a few occasions to come meet me and take a walk through the neighborhood so he can see the obstacles that stand in my way. So far he hasn't accepted my invitation.
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