Photo | Pixaby)
With the Dog Days of Summer rapidly coming to a close, it is time to turn the Community’s attention to a major pedestrian safety issue.
That issue is the SE Third Street Canal Bridge crossing just South of Division Street near the Fred Meyer Shopping Center.
Advocates for Disabled Americans (ADA), a local Disability Rights Advocacy group is announcing that it has filed ADA Discrimination Complaints with the US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (USDOJ) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), Office of Civil Rights, against the City of Bend (COB).
The Complaints charge the City with failure to provide the required “Accessible Pathways” on the East and West sides of the Bridge over a Canal owned and operated by the Central Oregon Irrigation District (COID).
Beginning about 2016, the COB initiated an extensive SE Sidewalk Improvement Project estimated to cost $2M from Wilson Avenue to Powers Road.
“Conceptually, along with the Design, Engineering and Construction of this project, it was fatally flawed from the beginning. Ultimately it became one of the most dangerous and unusable bridge crossings in the history of the City,” according to ADA Chief Advocate, Brian M Douglass.
The project was declared completed by the COB in August of 2017 when ADA pointed out a serious safety issue for both able bodies and the disabled when all users were forced off the sidewalk to street level Bike Lane on the West side and forced to walk the 65 feet to a connecting sidewalk on the South side of the Canal.
This experience required traveling along side of vehicle traffic going 35 to 40 MPH, and with trucks and RV’s equipped with extended mirrors which are deemed a significant cause of serious injury and death by ODOT itself.
In addition, the COB had placed simple saw horses and the end of each sidewalk that within one week were found in the Canal. ADA demanded that the COB install large sturdy wooden barricades, to prevent citizens from falling into the Canal.
Despite the insistence by the COB that the Bike Lane is an approved ADA pathway, the U.S. Access Board in Washington DC in 2017, upon reviewing descriptions and photographs provided by ADA, disagreed. The Access Board’s staff indicated that the high rate of speed of vehicles alongside the Bike Lane was very dangerous and did not meet ADA standards.
The City of Bend Accessibility Advisory Committee (COBAAC) refused to support the need, citing financial inabilities regarding the costs and offered that the problem would likely be resolved in “future years”, when the bridge possibly would be replaced. Fanciful reasoning by COBAAC, and totally unreasonable and senseless to ADA.
The COB received from ODOT this year some $32K from the “Under” Project budget. Furthermore, the COB is dangling some $800K in possible funding over the next two years to all City Neighborhood Associations for needed projects on Collector, Arterial and Residential streets.
Since this bridge affects at least two Neighborhoods, ADA hopes they will join together and apply for $80K to be applied to the estimated $150K fix to this heavily travelled crossing.
ADA has recommended the placement of two “Bailey Bridges” on the East and West side of the Canal to provide the required “Accessible Pathways” for both pedestrians and bicyclists.
Within a few days of receiving the Complaint, David N. Morrissey, Program Manager for the ODOT Office of Civil Rights contacted ADA to begin to gather the facts and pledged to report back by September 28.
ADA feels a possible solution could be funds from the COB, along with perhaps funds from a previous Settlement Agreement between ODOT and the Disability Rights Oregon lawsuit. These could be tapped for the badly needed immediate safety concerns.
Another thing to look at is to take a visit to the COB website which can be enlightening when it comes to “Accessibility” issues in our town.
On the Transportation pages, ADA found a picture of the Crosswalk installed in 2018 on NE 27th and Conner’s. What the picture shows is a favorable northerly view of this $80K Project.
What it does not show is the southerly view, which would clearly show the Crosswalk is some 40 feet north of an existing intersection.
A few gallons of White paint applied to the asphalt and some additional LED street lighting surely could have been done for far less public money, be more useable and locals then would stop calling it their “Crosswalk to Nowhere.”
Additionally, the website shows the proposed enhanced Crosswalk not yet designed, on the northern edge of the Third Street Canal Bridge. A careful examination will demonstrate that the proposed Crosswalk, does not fully connect to “ADA Accessible Pathways” on either the East or West sides of the Canal bridge.
In short, the COB today is planning to spend countless thousands of public tax dollars again, for another “Crosswalk to Nowhere”. When does this insanity end?
Just these two examples of poor planning and wasted public money alone, offer the best evidence, why citizens of Bend consistently reject Bond Measures.
ADA does not believe that the COB’s proposed CTAC Bond Measure in 2020, has any real chance of getting voter approval. It is DOA!
For Amplification, please contact Brian M Douglass Chief Advocate for ADA at chiefadvocate4ada@gmail.com or 541-213-8510.
