Kenmore Square much improved for folks in wheelchairs
By adamg - 11/17/09 - 4:56 pm
The Traveling Wheelchair reviews Kenmore Square:
...Once safely on the brick sidewalk, I found it plenty wide enough and fairly easy to wheel on the bricks. As we were about to cross the street at a pedestrian sidewalk, we were pleased to see there is a map with Braille for the blind to read; and the crosswalk made of brick which provides contrast and is easy to see if you are visually impaired like me. I like it because the brick will always stand out and not fade as painted white lines do. ...
Comments
Remember this in a few
Remember this in a few months when some 'accessibility group' run by greedy lawyers decides to file a class action lawsuit for millions.
A few months from now the
A few months from now the frost heaving will have rendered the surface hazardous to anyone with mobility / vision impairments.
Brick sidewalks look nice, but they're pretty terrible from a long-term usability standpoint.
unlikely
The brick sidewalks are set in 3/4" of sand-based bituminous over 4" of concrete over a dense gravel base. How are they going to frost-heave? All of the other new brick sidealks installed in the last few years in the city are holding up just fine with that detail.
The problem is going to be all of the settlement of the pavers in the street. When they set granite curb flush, it never settles at the same rate as the pavers or asphalt, thoese crosswalks will be a mess in 5-10 years. That is probably why they used asphalt in the middle of the crosswalk.