HUDseen: A Chronicle Of "Progress," "Improvement" and ADA-Compliance, Hudson City Hall Style

The two recently installed curb ramps at the intersection of South 3rd & Cherry Alley are a result of the U.S. Department of Justice's 2019 (Rector era!) "settlement agreement" with the city to make our sidewalks and curb ramps at and near essential city services ADA-compliant. The curb ramps with red ADA mats in front of the Hudson Youth Center showed up late last fall, I believe, no more than 8 months ago. I remember watching the concrete work being done by a contractor I was not familiar with, and they must have been one that the city hired. (DPW had nothing to do with the work as they don't do sidewalks!) Outside of CHIP's-related curb ramp work, I think these are the first two (and possibly only) ramps resulting from the DOJ settlement agreement, though I could be mistaken.

For the past several years, the ADA mats have been part of all new curb ramp installations, likely a requirement for ADA- compliance. The plastic mats are, to me, nothing but an ugly, nuisance, and I don't doubt that at least one blind person would agree with me, particularly when the mats are not properly maintained (or replaced!). It used to be that concrete curb ramps were attractively scored -- given some lined texture -- to let everyone, particularly the blind, know where they stood and to make the ramps slip-resistant for all. This was before the plastic era which we unfortunately find ourselves in. Now, instead of permanence, practicality, style, low cost and environmental stewardship, we have plastic mats with bumps on them that millions of footsteps are expected to handle. More plastic shit -- in our public space, no less -- that does not hold up well and is essentially disposable crap that will only need to eventually be replaced with more plastic, a perfect lesson in unsustainability and wastefulness, two things our planet cannot tolerate for much longer. Even after 8 months, the plastic crap meant to keep us all safe can completely fall off -- yes, even when DPW is not involved.

When part of a mat breaks off, the curb ramp becomes a hazard for everyone, particularly the blind! When the whole thing breaks away from the concrete surface within a year, that's when you know someone didn't know what they were doing and no at City Hall was paying attention to the installation of the work we paid for. NOTHING, ESPECIALLLY IF IT IS MADE OF PLASTIC, CAN BE SECURED TO CONCRETE FOR A DECENT LENGTH OF TIME, PARTICULARLY IF IT IS CONSTANTLY BEING STEPPED ON AND SUBJECT TO THE ELEMENTS! SCORED LINES ON A CONCRETE CURB RAMP WILL LAST AS LONG AS THE ENTIRE RAMP DOES! THEY STAND THE TEST OF TIME! PLASTIC NEVER DOES!

June 13th (same as above).
More garbage for the landfill that
may have to close soon!

June 18th. The loose and
sliding ADA curb ramp mat!

June 23rd. Did someone at the
Youth Department take it away and
call the contractor to return?

NO, no one did shit! (JULY 3rd)

It's not surprising to me that no one at the Youth Department seems to care that one of the ADA mats in front of their building came loose. Hell, they've proven over and over that they aren't interested in keeping the gravel from their parking lot from making its way onto the sidewalk, an issue that I've made them aware of on several occasions over the past two years. They swept it once about a year ago. That entire sidewalk (Cherry to Union) in front of their building is generally a dangerous, insulting mess, one which the DOJ ADA people would likely find problems with! The whole thing needs to be redone, not just the one curb ramp.

What about ADA mats elsewhere on our sidewalks? Wherever you happen to walk you are bound to come across a missing mat or, more likely, a damaged one. For example...

As part of this year's CHIPs repaving work, Luizzi recently installed a curb ramp on the southeast corner of East Court & Union, with the requisite plastic ADA mat right where it should be, in red.

But at the other end of that newly painted crosswalk there is no ADA curb ramp mat at all. (I wish I had taken a picture of it in all its brokenness before it disappeared recently. What was left of it was a sight to behold!) Seeing the outline of where the mat had been only begs the question: If the ADA mats are so important and necessary, why hasn't Rob Perry replaced it yet? Is he expecting someone else to do it, like the county, whose property abuts that sidewalk? Does he give a crap if it never gets replaced? What if the DOJ tells him to replace it?

The ADA-complaint plastic mat nearest to the library has been missing pieces for over one year. It's so lovely, isn't it? Hell, even a blind person would probably find it ugly. Why even bother installing them if they aren't going to be maintained and replaced?

Why only one mat if the ramp serves
pedestrians in two perpendicular directions?
It's not even located where pedestrians
typically step.

Then there is this, further evidence that Rob Perry is a slob without equal who doesn't give a shit what downtown Hudson looks like or how unsafe it is.

April 7th, at one of the city's busiest
with pedestrians intersections. Turning
trucks often ride over the mats.

Also April 7th

April 13th

Last, and closest to home for me, there are the 5 separate red ADA mats on the northeast corner of 6th & State, which I tread on quite often. Those 5 mats, as well as the 6 others at the intersection (the other corners have the typical two mats each), were installed by Colarusso as part of their CHIPs repaving work 5 or 6 years ago. According to a neighbor who I ran into while taking the picture of our local mats, she feels they are "all shit!" I couldn't have said it better myself.

The mats are soft and puffed up in spots (unstable) as if they've expanded with no way to go but up, the surfaces are uneven, one has a huge lump in it (raised) as if there is a rock underneath, moisture can be heard underneath when stepped on well after rain (there may be mold under there!), gravel is always present on them and generally they are a nuisance best to be avoided. The damage, which appeared years ago, literally makes the curb ramp dangerous for everyone, particularly for the disabled, precisely the people the mats are supposed to help and protect. Soon, as all our mats do, they will begin to disintegrate in chunks and Rob Perry will no doubt be rushing to replace them. Or not. Maybe he's counting on Matt Murell to replace these ADA mats when they go, too!

One of the worst, most dangerous "new" curb
ramps, if not the worst and most dangerous,
in the entire city. 5 mats of differing sizes,
all with problems.