In Durham, sidewalks are required – except when they aren’t

The Watts-Hillandale neighborhood listserv has recently been chattering over the appearance of corner curb cuts, those downward-sloping transitions from street to sidewalk that allow easier access for the mobility-challenged to use the walkways.

Not that folks aren’t supportive of the idea of more accessibility, we suspect; instead, they were curious why these presumably-pricy features were being added in particular areas where, say, a sidewalk disappears mid-block – or where there’s barely any sidewalk at all on that block.

City Councilman Mike Woodard addressed the matter, which comes down to a predictably simple motivator: the settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Durham over Americans with Disabilities Act compliance:

[The] curb ramps we've seen at Woodrow and Carolina, as well as other places near WHH, are a requirement of a judicial order for ADA compliance that was issued to the City. Every intersection that has curb and a sidewalk must have a ramp, no exceptions, even if the sidewalk appears to go nowhere or end mid-block.

It doesn't make sense to me, but the order is very clear on this point and has been reaffirmed by the feds. Seth [Vidal] is correct that this order was the result of a law suit against the City for non-compliance. But Durham has not been alone in this, as many other cities in the region and across the country are working under similar orders.

Of course, legal orders aside, the City has been generally encouraging of sidewalks being added in new development; retrofitting areas with sidewalks is challenging, with the DurhamWALKS! plan from a few years back specifying high-priority corridors throughout the Bull City, but with dollars scarce to make progress on the plan.

Thus, the importance of mandating that developers build sidewalks along public rights-of-way when a new site is developed; even when they’re not developing anything except sidewalks to nowhere.

(When BCR's editor volunteered with Habitat for Humanity a couple of years back, the non-profit was required to develop a slice of sidewalk along Junction Rd., an expense in the tens of thousands of dollars; theirs is the only slab of concrete sidewalk anywhere between Cheek Rd. and NC 98.)

All of which makes it ironic that one of the Bull City’s celebrated new developments, the massive Quintiles headquarters on Page Rd. off I-40 in the Imperial Center, didn’t have to build useful sidewalks connecting to the rest of the fast-growing development. And what pedestrian connections they were required to build didn’t have to accommodate wheelchairs.

As the landscaping started to take shape at the site, it became obvious that sidewalks along Page Rd and Emperor Blvd, the two streets that front the new ten-story building were not going to be built.  A call to Durham’s Planning Department confirmed it – sidewalks were not required as part of the site plan.

City/County Planning insisted that there was a pedestrian connection, however.  Not from either road or either of the two automobile entrances to the building’s parking lot, but from a small pedestrian path running behind Gold’s Gym.

When it comes to pedestrian access here, though, it’s something you have to experience for yourself:

For the curious, here's the path that we had to take to get to the public entry to Quintiles' building from the Starbucks. Pretty straight and direct -- until you have to circumnavigate the entire site and trek, unaided by signs or directions, through a parking deck, of all things. Bottom line: it takes almost as long to get from the Starbucks to the building's corner... as it does to then wind your way into the building itself.

So how did the “crown jewel” of the Imperial Center end up with no sidewalks and a non-ADA accessible pedestrian connection that dumps you into the middle of a parking garage?

When the site plan was originally brought through the process, the City of Durham asked the developer, Tri Properties, to provide sidewalks along the frontage roads as it would for any new development in Durham.  However, Tri Properties pointed to a master sidewalk plan for the Imperial Center completed in 1990 which did not show sidewalks along Emperor Blvd or Page Rd at this site.

It was decided that the sidewalk plan was still valid and that it trumped the requirement to build sidewalks along the frontage roads, so all that was required was a sidewalk connection to the existing pedestrian path, 45 feet from the new site.  This connection was not required, apparently, to be ADA accessible.

Nonetheless, ADA-accessible ramps were included in the site plan reviewed by both the Planning Department and Transportation Department and approved by the Development Review Board (DRB) in June 2007.

That is, until the site plan was amended in July 2008, an amendment that only had to be approved by the Planning Department (it was apparently never seen again by the Transportation Department or the DRB).  In this amended site plan, the ramps were gone, replaced by the series of staircases that were recently completed.

So instead of a beautiful new Quintiles headquarters with accessible sidewalks connecting to other businesses in the Imperial Center, restaurants (Mez, Jimmy John’s, Chelsea Café, etc.), and Triangle Transit’s new Regional Transit Center (¼ mile away), Durham is left with a beautiful new Quintiles headquarters that is only truly accessible by automobile.

We e-mailed Tri Properties for their perspective last week, but haven't received a reply by press time. If a response does come, we will post it here.

It is, ultimately, an irony befit of the Bull City.

With its right hand, the City is spending money to add wheelchair accessibility to incomplete sidewalks, even though they’re in already-walkable neighborhoods.

With its left hand, meanwhile, the City has no problem with lousy, outdated pedestrian connectivity planning in an area where you really need walkable connections – and, worse, lets accessible ramps get removed in an area where those in wheelchairs have no other options to get around.

Plus ça change.

New BCR correspondent Erik Landfried grew up just outside of Boston, MA.  Erik moved to Chapel Hill in 2002 and got his Master's in Regional Planning from UNC in 2007.  He now lives in the Walltown neighborhood in Durham and works in the public transportation industry.  You can reach Erik at erik.landfried@gmail.com.

Comments

[Jonathan D.]

Well done. I find it hilarious that the brand new ramp installed on my block on Glendale Ave. dumps you right into a sidewalk that is so cracked and misshapen as to render it impassable by bicycles let alone a wheelchair.

Of course the sidewalk ends abruptly at a roundabout only a tenth of a mile down the road so why bother? Did I mention that the roundabout doesn't have any pedestrian crosswalk facility? Sigh... wasting money left and right.

[Carl]

Very good points and pretty pathetic for a site that, as you note, is right by the transit center. If I'm not mistaken, the Quintiles building is going after LEED designation for environmentally friendly design. Unfortunately, this particular designation barely takes into account how people actually arrive at the building...

[JobRetraining forAllDevelopers]

Or perhaps we could think big and actually fix the crappy sidewalks and one day finish and link the ones that go to nowhere?

These don't have to be a joke -- they could be a step (or, rather, a roll) in the right direction.

[Visconti]

A good way to build new sidewalks in older neighborhoods without killing trees and ruining yards is to take a small strip of the paved street and turn it into a sidewalk. That would eliminate street parking in narrow streets, but it would also slow down traffic, as an additional traffic calming measure. Our streets would be more walkable and pedestrian friendly. You could even make the new sidewalks extra wide so that they could accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

[Michael Oehler]

Fine reporting as usual. Wanted to address a few things.

1) "These don't have to be a joke -- they could be a step (or, rather, a roll) in the right direction." JobRetraining

That would be a good point if the city were ever planning to put more sidewalks in WHH. However, the sidewalk on the corner of Woodrow and Carolina is not needed, and in Mike Woodard's own words there will not be sidewalks built in the interior steets of WHH because, "...our interior streets in WHH are wider than in some neighborhoods, and since fewer rely on walking to nearby stores, offices, and other services, sidewalk needs in other parts of the city are ranked higher."

While I think I understand the coded language that Mr. Woodard is using... poor people in poor neighborhoods that don't have cars need sidewalks more than rich people in rich neighborhoods that have cars... I find it very interesting considering that much of WHHs allure seems to be the ability of residents to walk and bike places.

2) The sidewalk on Carolina runs three houses in length and dumps out on the front yard of the third house? Where is the ramp off the sidewalk? Is this really what the ADA had in mind?

3) The money for these curb cuts is coming from the 2005 bonds. Classic. Why don't we hang one of those fancy signs seen around our city-- "Your bond money at work!"

Michael

[SteveG]

What message does this send to disabled people in Durham, the City of Medicine? Please go away - we don't want you here.

This issue especially stings in light of the recent PAC2 Coffee with Council where a wheelchair-bound woman proceeded to the front of the room to complain about years-long access issues, not only with old structures, but also with new buildings - including medical facilities! These are issues that have been ignored for years!

What is going to solve this issue? Probably another ADA lawsuit, just like what had to happen to prompt the city to install sidewalks and curb cuts to nowhere. Durham apparently does not learn from it's mistakes.

Shame on Quintiles, a pharmaceutical firm, for being so callous to the needs of the disabled! Shame on Tri Properties for not rising to the occasion to do the right thing, and hiding behind an outdated sidewalk plan! Shame on Durham for not recognizing the outdated sidewalk plan and brining it into the new millenium.

Somebody, please tell me, where are our leaders?

[Moe]

Remember people, this year is an election year. We should hold all our elected officials accountable for every promise they have made. Things like this should be a no brainer...... but why does it have to be so difficult and/or expensive?

[Jessica B]

Good topic, keep it up!
Durham needs better sidewalks and bike paths all over. My neighborhood, Duke Park, has a sad lack of sidewalks. What really makes it sting is that there are many spaces where sidewalks were obviously intended, but never built.

[tina]

Since the city requires developers to put in sidewalks, but the city doesn't necessarily retro fit old neighborhoods like Duke Park, I find it ironic that one day the 'burbs might be more walkable than older urban neighborhoods. What the heck???

[Todd P]

Good story, BCR

This Quintiles example is the same type of short-sighted planning that led to the sidewalk-free bridge where Sparger Road crosses over I-85. Since there was no sidewalk in the plan for Sparger at the time, NCDOT didn't build one.

The interchange with the never-to-be-built Eno Drive - just to the west of Sparger - was to have sidewalks and bike lanes. No one apparently thought about little old Sparger needing them.

Residents living north of I-85 do walk/bike across the bridge anyway, even without the sidewalks, to get to the Food Lion on Hillsborough Rd. But it is a pretty perilous journey.

[Mike Woodard]

@ Michael: No coded language intended. The fact is that the closest grocery stores are a mile away from my house and your house in WHH. In Wellons Village, for instance, there are dozens of houses within a block of the Village Shopping Center, but no sidewalks to allow residents to walk there safely.

You've actually misquoted me, as I did not say "there will not be sidewalks built in the interior steets [sic] of WHH."

What I did say, in response to a specific question about planting in the right of way, was "I would agree with [an earlier poster] that I wouldn't worry about planting anything in the right of way and that the chances of seeing a new sidewalk installed along our interior streets are slim. It's not, as Michael [Oehler] suggests due to lack of political will, but more a matter of funding and priorities. Since our interior streets in WHH are wider than in some neighborhoods, and since fewer rely on walking to nearby stores, offices, and other services, sidewalk needs in other parts of the city are ranked higher."

@ A few of you: Frankly, the sign I'd like to hang at these corners is: "Mandated by US Government, Even Though This Job Doesn't Make Sense." I'd hang the first one at Carolina and Woodrow, the end of the block where I live.

@ SteveG: The City-County Inspections Department met with the woman who raised the access issues at the PAC 2 meeting. The buildings she was speaking about were private buildings. In some cases, the owner went back after the inspection and changed some of the ADA compliance amenities. There was even one example where the rail was taken out and the holes that held the rail hardware were papered over. The Inspections Department is working with the private owners to get these violations corrected quickly.

@ Moe: It's always easier and cheaper to get pedestrian, ADA, and bicycle amenities on the front end of a project. It's placing these in older neighborhoods (WHH, Duke Park, Northeast Central Durham) that gets really expensive.

I hope all of you will keep raising this as an issue that is important to you and vital to each neighborhood, rich or poor, in every part of town. And remember that some of us are fighting this battle on what seems to be a weekly basis.

[Joshua Allen]

Great story! I'm glad to see BCR growing with great reporters!!!!

It's truly sad that Quintiles doesn't think of its own employees wanting to walk to lunch.

And I really wish the City could maintain the sidewalks it has. The sidewalks on my street are about 80+ years old and are a true hazard to anyone walking them. They have ADA ramps, but the sidewalks themselves are in such awful shape, they cannot be traveled by wheelchair. After any rain, they are so muddy that you definitely don't want to use them. The worst part of it is that I have no confidence the City will fix them in my lifetime.

[Jacqueline Olich]

We need sidewalk connectivity and a pedestrian-friendly plan to connect Forest View and Trinity schools with nearby neighborhoods on Randolph Road.

[Scott Harmon]

I would contact Quintiles. They're the client here and it's their signature headquarters. I bet if you contact them, we'll get sidewalks.

Hearing stories like this is why I decided to be a developer so I can do the right thing instead of the minimum thing.

This is SO tired.

[Erik]

@Scott: I think you're right about contacting Quintiles. One has to wonder if the higher-ups there have any clue how ridiculous this situation is.

The thing I don't really understand is why this "pedestrian connection" would even be considered a better solution than just putting in accessible sidewalks along the road and up to the building entrance. Is it really that much cheaper to do what they did? They had to put in two concrete staircases with railings...that must have cost a pretty penny. On top of that, they put a walkway right next to the building to get around the the "back" of the building (the fact that the building is oriented toward a parking lot is another matter altogether). I just wonder what the cost differential is between putting in what I would consider normal pedestrian facilities and a crosswalk at the Page Rd/Emperor Blvd. intersection and what they did instead.

I also don't understand why this would be in the best interest of Quintiles even if there were an initial cost savings. At some point, they will have an applicant or employee who will apply for a job or have a job at this building who will request that better access be provided to/from the site, right? Almost every major employer I've ever worked for has had to retrofit buildings, sidewalks, etc. to accommodate that type of request. As City Councilman Woodard points out, it's more expensive to retrofit than build it as part of the initial site design.

[disappointedMPH]

Wait!!!??? Didn't Quintiles founder and head Dennis Gillings just give gobs of money to UNC's School of Public Health so they would name the school after him?

And aren't there dozens of public health studies showing that lack of access to walkable spaces contributes to obesity, etc.

[Toby]

Several advisory commissions (e.g. Durham Open Space & Trails, Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Commission) have Development Review subcommittees that have the opportunity to review and comment on developers' plans. I can't speak to the details of the Quintiles project (it was under construction before I moved here), but I urge each of you to COME ON DOWN to the monthly meetings and get involved! Details at:

http://www.bikewalkdurham.org/dost/
http://www.bikewalkdurham.org/BPAC_main.html

[Kevin Davis]

@DisappointedMPH -- You know, I thought the very same thing in re walking and public health.

Though given that I got to hike there and back with Erik as the hidden cameraman on this shoot, at least Quintiles did something to get *me* up and about...

[WriteswithSylverster]

@Erik -- Sometimes people will spend significantly more money and effort trying to get out of requirements rather than just doing what is easiest. It is like the people at work who will bend over backwards to not have to do their job when they could have completed what was required in half the time. Perhaps Durham could use incentives (carrots) rather than just going through the motions of enforcing the requirements (flimsy sticks). Of course, it would require those in charge of the approvals to truly understand the intent of ADA. Maybe Dan Burden could come down and give a few lectures to people at the Planning Department. Next article, a profile on them.