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Home / Albums / Tag sidewalks 5
- ADAPT (287)
Monday Oct. 6, I986 / THE DETROIT NEWS / p.3B City/suburbs/state Title: Transit group averts clash with handicapped Disabled protest at Greenfield Village PHOTO News Photo by Gary Portes: A very large crowd of people in business attire walk away from a building. Most have name tags. Capition reads: APTA members take a hike after being blocked out of Greenfield Village by ADAPT. By Richard Chin, NEWS Staff Writer Using a back entrance to Greenfield Village, a convoy of SEMTA buses filled with delegates to a national transportation convention avoided a confrontation Sunday with about 100 members of a militant disabled-rights group. The buses, under police escort, slipped into Greenfield Village along a service road from a nearby Ford Motor Co. facility. The protesters were waiting in front of the main entrance to Greenfield Village. THE BUSES were en route to a dinner reception for members of the American Public Transit Association (APTA), which met in Detroit over the weekend. The protesters are members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, which has been trying to disrupt APTA meetings for three years. They demand improved access for the disabled to buses and other public transportation. Sunday‘s protest began with a wheelchair march from Rosa Park Boulevard down Michigan Avenue to the Westin Hotel in the Renaissance Center, where the APTA delegates are staying. The group had planned a wheelchair parade on the street but Detroit City Council rescinded the group's parade permit Sept. 29, fearing the protest would disrupt city transportation. AS THE GROUP wheeled along the sidewalk, up to 15 city police cars worked to keep them from spilling onto the street. Once they arrived at the hotel, the protesters were quickly herded into a barricaded area that kept them from entering the hotel. Group leaders said once they realized they couldn't enter the building or keep the buses carrying the delegates from leaving, they left themselves for Greenfield Village to try to block entrances. However, the SEMTA buses slipped through the back entrance. THE GROUP did manage to turn away several cars carrying late arrivers at the dinner, and after Greenfield Village was closed to the public at 6 p.rn., restricted all but guests at a private wedding from entering. APTA raised the ire of the protesters through what the protesters said were policies discriminatory against the disabled. They said APTA opposes making all buses wheelchair accessible. “l think they're afraid some of the riders don't want tn ride with diaabled people because some diaabled people are not attractive," aaid Jack Warren, 43. of Cincinnati. He said the stance reflects that of many public transportation users. APTA officials could not be reached immediately for comment. Harry A. Cassidy, a bus driver from Capital Area Transit Authority in Lansing, said he understands the protesters' complaints, but said making all buses accessible to the disabled makes it difficult to keep buses on schedule. Michnel Niemann, communications manager for SEMTA, said all that company’s small buses and 70 percent of its large buses are wheelchair accessible. By 1988, he said, all will be wheelchair accessible. TEXT BOX: “I think they’re afraid some of the riders don't want to ride with disabled people because some disabled people are not attractive. " - JACK WARREN SECOND PHOTO by Gary Porter (News Photo): Behind a metal police barricade that extends beyond the edges of the picture, several long rows of protesters, in wheelchairs and standing, are lined up with their backs to the building of the Westin Hotel. Some are hlding signs. Everyone is looking out toward the street. Caption reads: Disabled protesters Members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, (ADAPT) demonstrate in front of the Westin Hotel on Sunday. ADAPT members are demanding improved access for the disabled on buses and other pubic transportation. Thay attempted to disrupt the meetings of the American Public Transit Association which convened in Detroit last weekend. - ADAPT (66)
Dallas Times Herald Wednesday, January 14, 1986 [Headline] Community Close-Up [Subheading] Police on sidewalk wheelchair ramps changed By Lori Montgomery After months of controversy and numerous protests by handicapped residents, the Irving City Council agreed last week to build wheelchair ramps when curbs near intersections are dismantled for any reason. Without amending a disputed 1981 ordinance that requires the city to build ramps only during new sidewalk construction, the council reached a “policy consensus" at last week's work session ordering city road and utility workers to replace curbs with ramps in the course of routine maintenance, said Public Works Director Lewis Patrick. “Any time 50 percent of the curb or 75 percent of the sidewalk is disturbed, we will go to the additional expense of taking the whole (curb) out and replacing it with a ramp," Patrick said, adding that the new policy will “eliminate the guesswork" of deciding when to replace a curb with a ramp. Construction of a standard curb costs about $103, Patrick said, while wheelchair ramps cost as much as $600 to build. The new policy, which takes effect immediately, could cost the city an additional $212,478 annually, Patrick said. “We have no objections to building ramps, but we need these guidelines to determine where you draw the line to spend that extra $500," Patrick said. Most council members dismissed the added financial burden as a necessary expense. "Let's not quibble" over when to build a ramp, Councilman Lars Ehnebuske said. “If a curb is 49 percent (disturbed), let’s go ahead and do it right. We ought to err in that direction rather than err the other way." Councilwoman Jackie Townsell recommended that the council immediately increase the budget for the Department of Public Works and review the financial impact of the new policy when the council meets for its annual budget session this summer. “The idea is to make the entire city accessible,” Townsell said. Townsell also suggested that the city take on the additional responsibility of building ramps on curbs destroyed during maintenance work by utility companies. The council agreed to ask utility companies to notify the city when such work is planned. "I think that's the minimum we can do because l think our city’s really behind in this area," Councilwoman Fran Bonilla said. The dispute over wheelchair ramps erupted last fall when handicapped residents charged at a meeting of the council's Community Services Committee that the city was violating the spirit of a 1981 ordinance by refusing to build ramps on curbs torn up during the course of maintenance projects. Such projects were under way throughout the city. In early December, a small group of protesters rolled in wheelchairs past maintenance workers on Rochelle Road, painting newly replaced standard curbs with the slogan “This curb is illegal." Although the city violated neither state law nor, technically, its own ordinance in rebuilding standard curbs, state officials said last month that most cities in Texas replace curbs near intersections with wheelchair ramps at any time a curb is disturbed. Cathy Johnson [Cathy Thomas], who was among seven handicapped residents at last week's work session, said the City “is on the right track" with the new policy. But, she said, the policy should be expanded and made permanent by amending the 1981 ordinance to require the city to build ramps when even a small part of the curb is disturbed. “I don't see what kind of criteria they're going to use to say what's 30 percent (of curb destruction) and what's 50 percent," Johnson said. "If this were the golf course, they'd go ahead and spend the money." - ADAPT (62)
The Irving Daily News Thursday, November 13, 1986 [Headline] Curb cut policy called 'slap in the face' continued... Installation of the ramps would cost utility companies $300-500 over the costs of the work being done, he said. The city would have to change the present ordinance if utility companies are expected to install the ramps, he said. The additional costs arise in most cases because both utility companies and the city tear out only a portion of the sidewalk corner. In order to install a ramp, 14-15 feet of the corner must be torn out, said Lewis Patrick, director of Public Works. But Thomas and other handicapped representatives present at the meeting said some action must be taken by the city, either to change its policy or correctly interpret the policy. “It is the ultimate in stupidity and asininity to tear down a structure and re-create it with as much of a barrier for the disabled as existed before,” Thomas said. The lack of action by the city is a “slap in the face, a spit in the face and the ultimate insult,” he said. “It says to the handicapped, ‘We don’t want you around.’ Without the ramps, transportation does us no good.” Thomas said every corner in the city without a curb cut needs to have a ramp installed. His argument apparently was convincing to City Council members, who agreed to look into the current ordinance to see if changes are needed. “It appears to me as time goes on whether we choose to accept or resist changes, they’re going to come about,” Councilman Jack Nulty said. “It would behoove the city in the long run to try to be ahead of the game and lay the curbs. It is inevitable that it will have to be done because of the growth in the handicapped population." Nulty said that any work being done on a curb at an intersection warrants installation of a ramp. The city can come up with the extra funding that will be needed, he said. Council members agreed that the ordinance could bear some examination. “We need to look into an ordinance change so that the curb can be done right while we‘re already doing the work,” Councilwoman Fran Bonilla said. - ADAPT (61)
Dallas Morning News 2/4/86 PHOTO: A small woman [Cathy Thomas] in a motorized wheelchair sits on a sidewalk above a curb. Her legs are extended and she is wearing an ADAPT T-shirt under her jacket; her face is determined. On the side of the curb, which runs the width of the picture, is stenciled the words "this curb is illegal." Caption reads: Cathy Thomas, a member of the ADAPT organization, stops in from of a freshly painted curb in Irving that her group says is not accessible to people in wheelchairs. [Headlines] Group protests curb construction [Subheading] Advocates for disabled say work violates Irving ordinance By Mercedes Olivera IRVING — Members of a support group for the disabled staged a protest Wednesday against recent sidewalk construction and repairs along Rochelle Road that do not provide curb cuts for wheelchair bound citizens. Armed with a can of red spray paint, five people from American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, or ADAPT, sprayed four recently repaired curbs with a stencil-lettered sign reading, “This curb is illegal." In recent weeks, Rochelle Road has been resurfaced and had curbs torn out and replaced, city officials said. "This curb is a clear-cut violation of their own ordinance," Dan Thomas, president of the Handicapped Association of Texas, said as he pointed to a recently poured curb. He accompanied his sister, Cathy, who must use a wheelchair. Group members said they have monitored the city's compliance with its ordinance, adopted in—1981, requiring that curb cuts and barrier-free ramps be included in all street construction. Sandy Cash, assistant city manager for development services, said the issue revolves around “what constitutes ‘maintenance’ and ‘new construction’ " of city streets. He said the ordinance was meant for streets in new subdivisions, not for existing thoroughfares. But "anytime we come in and have to remove a (large portion of) sidewalk and curbing, as a general rule we install a curb cut," Cash said. The city staff is looking to the City Council for direction on this issue, he said. He said city staff members have been preparing information on the cost and number of curbs torn out and replaced last year. The information will be given to City Council members, but Cash said he did not know when the report would be completed. However, Thomas said ADAPT members have become frustrated by what he called the city's slow response to their requests. “We ‘have never before asked that old barrier structures be rebuilt," Thomas said. “But now we are asking that all curbs placed since 1981, which are not in compliance, be replaced." - ADAPT (42)
The Denver Post? [Headline] Atlantis Residents Train for Hot Line Handicapped persons residing in the Atlantis Community in Denver are being trained to man a telephone hot line to respond to the emergency needs of all the disabled in Denver. Wade Blank, Atlantis co-director, said the hot line -- soon to be put into service -- is being funded by the Colorado Vocational Rehabilitation Division. [Subheading] FURNITURE GIVEN In other developments at Atlantis, the Denver Hilton Hotel ls donating furniture for the apartments in which the handicapped persons reside at the Las Casitas Public Housing Development here. The furniture is being made available by the hotel as the result of remodeling of some of the Hilton’s rooms, Blank noted. Atlantis ls a nonprofit organization which began operations last spring to offer the handicapped the opportunity to live in apartments so that they might attempt to realize their full potential. Blank also said the IBM Corp. in Denver, through its staff member Burt Lipell, donated a new washer and dryer to Atlantis. This equipment is operated by George Roberts, one of the Atlantis residents. The Denver City Council, Blank said, is being asked to appropriate $2,000 for installation of sidewalks among all the Atlantis apartments before winter comes. Atlantis has received three new electric wheel chairs and one manual chair through the efforts of Dr. James Syner of Medicaid’s special Medical Equipment division. [Subheading] COMMUNICATIONS A communications system also ls being planned among each of the apartments at Atlantis. And one of Atlantis’ most severely disabled residents is the coordinator of a wheel chair van which Atlantis leases from this resident, Blank said. This project also is funded by the rehabilitation division. Five Atlantis residents are attending local schools or colleges - one resident attending Metropolitan State College, one at Red Rocks School, two at Boettcher School and one at Opportunity School. PHOTO on bottom: Side view of a man's (Wade Blank) head, with below the shoulder long straight blondish hair, clean shaven, and wearing round glasses and a dark shirt. Caption reads: Wade Blank, The Disabled. Next article on right Disabled Helped by Wirth's Compassion To the Denver Post: IN A RECENT LETTER to the Forum (April 27), Rita Jackson complained that Representative's Wirth office is not accessible to the handicapped "via the front door." A partial truth can be a big lie, and the whole truth should be told. It is true that the front door is hard to negotiate in a wheelchair, but the office building is accessible from the rear, which is where the parking lot is located. Here, as in many office buildings, the "rear" is the normal, preferred building entrance, and as no "second class" connotations. What is more important, Tim Wirth is not the kind of ivory tower legislator who hides in his office and expects the world, disabled included, to bring its problems to him. Tim Wirth constantly leaves his office, goes out into the community, and talks to the people about their problems in their own environment. The disabled have often been helped by his blend of energy and compassion. Atlantis has found that Tim Wirth's heart and mind are always accessible, and that is what counts. Atlantis' Residents - Carolyn Finnell, Darrell Clark, Jackie Nielsen, Jean Joyce, Delbert Spotts, Jim Lundvall, Gary Van Lake, George Roberts, Will Cornelison, Alex Chavez Denver AD in a box: The Perfect Gift... "Companions" A book of unusual poetry by Michael Smith. Available soon at local book stores (All proceeds, after printing and selling costs, will go to the Atlantis Community for the handicapped in Denver.) PHOTO: Close-up of a man (Michael Smith) with long hair and dark mustache and beard looking up soulfully from a bed. Someone, mostly out of the picture, is looking down at him.