I have no idea who ultimately made the decision to allow the sidewalk in front of City Hall to be halved in width, but I can tell you that the issue never came up or was voted on during any Informal Common Council meetings. It should have been discussed, though. (Was there ever even any discussion between at least two people, or did one person just decide that half the sidewalk had to go to make way for the parking space?)
HUDseen readers have probably figured out by now that I am a bit obsessed with safety. But you don't have to be a safety or rule freak to see that what we currently have in front of City Hall was a huge, preventable mistake, and that the city has opened itself up to possible legitimate lawsuits. The city created a handicap parking space at the expense of half the width of 40 feet of sidewalk in front of City Hall. The city created a handicap parking space while putting pedestrians in harm's way. Oh, the irony!
HUDseen has mentioned it at least twice in the past several months: someone is going to fall of the (suddenly narrow) busy sidewalk in front of City Hall and smash their head on the pavement of the handicap parking space that is rarely utilized and took away half the sidewalk. I nearly witnessed just that on Friday afternoon, and what I saw speaks volumes about what is to come.
While standing in front of City Hall speaking on the phone, I watched as a young woman approached City Hall on the sidewalk from the east. She was texting, with her phone in both hands blocking any view she might have had of the sidewalk in front of her. While mostly oblivious of her surroundings, her peripheral vision and the bit of her brain able to "focus" on her path reassured her that she was safely in the middle of the sidewalk with no threat of falling off the sidewalk into the street. But as soon as she passed in front of me, I saw that she was a few strides away from stepping on the yellow curb where it meets the top of the ramp in front of City Hall. The woman had no idea that she was quickly approaching the curb of the sidewalk and would no longer be in the middle of the sidewalk. Sure enough, most of her left foot stepped on the curb and she was suddenly not on even ground.
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| Where one side of the middle of the sidewalk disappears in front of Hudson City Hall, waiting to put someone in the hospital or morgue. |
She stumbled slightly, the hands on the phone immediately came down, she saw what was (and wasn't) in front of her and, without missing a step, she shifted herself a foot or two to the right off of the curb to avoid falling or walking into the handicap ramp. The phone immediately returned to both hands and she resumed walking while texting. She didn't even shake her head or wag a finger at City Hall's new ADA-friendly sidewalk. Nor did she go inside City Hall to tell the mayor how she almost fell of the city's new narrow sidewalk. No, it was just another stroll along another one of Hudson's dangerous sidewalks -- this one a real doozy courtesy of the friendly folks inside 520 Warren Street!
Sure, you might say that any pedestrian in Hudson (or elsewhere) staring at their phone deserves to wind up in the hospital or morgue. But let's face it, that woman could walk the entire length of both sides of Warren Street while texting and not have to worry about falling off the sidewalk -- except, of course, in front of Hudson City Hall and at intersections. And what about blind pedestrians? What has City Hall done to warn them that the middle of the sidewalk suddenly turns into a 5-inch high curb next to a handicap parking space also known as the street? Absolutely nothing! Didn't the U.S. Department of Justice tell the mayor and others a few years ago that Hudson has failed for far too long to make its sidewalks safe and accessible for all and especially the handicapped? Yes, the DOJ did just that! What has the city done to prevent someone or some people from falling off the sidewalk in front of City Hall? Essentially nothing! They halved the width of the sidewalk, painted the curb and called it a day! Whose idea was this and who agreed to it?
Imagine the irony and disgrace if the first (or second, or third...) person to fall off of the City Hall sidewalk and land in the street is a city employee -- perhaps the mayor, the city clerk or a parking enforcer. Or how about the Mayor's Aide who is lucky enough to also hold the title of ADA Coordinator! I will say it once again (and hopefully not again for a while!): Sooner or later, someone will fall off that sidewalk and land in the street -- perhaps someone with decent or perfect vision and not staring at a phone. And maybe that unfortunate soul also gets run over by the van that happens to be backing into the handicap space which is occupied legally maybe 6 or 7 times a year.
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| Hudson City Hall, where the new handicap parking space is waiting to greet any and all pedestrians! |
And then the aftermath will get really ugly. The mayor will call it "a regrettable accident" and that will be the only funny thing about it, because there would be nothing accidental about someone falling off of City Hall's narrow sidewalk and winding up in a coma or dead. No, the "accident" had to happen, mostly because City Hall seems to have no idea what it is doing when it comes to keeping pedestrians on their feet and out of the hospital or morgue and keeping itself free from preventable lawsuits they will be forced to settle out of court, possibly for millions of dollars. Yes, our City Hall went out of their way to create the ideal but subtle conditions to injure or kill someone. Or perhaps a few people, city employees included.
Just you wait and see! I hope it's not you and I hope it's not me, but it's going to be somebody!
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