Sidewalks are Disabling- A Look At The Importance of Accessible Sidewalks

In my first year of my master's program, I learned about how public spaces, including sidewalks, can be disabling. This brought me back to high school and early college, when I was a wheelchair user who relied on maintained sidewalks to get around on days I couldn't walk. This week, I want to talk about sidewalks as a way to assess if a community is accessible.

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When I was in my freshman year of college, I fell on my knee and needed to use mobility aids for multiple weeks. On one of those days, I went out to a mall in Los Angeles with some friends and brought my wheelchair. While at this mall, our group decided to go to a nearby attraction with lights to take pictures. To get to this attraction, we needed to walk on the sidewalk for about one block. The problem was that the sidewalk was not maintained. Tree roots had made the sidewalk uneven, and no attempt was made to level it. The only way I could walk on the sidewalk was by getting out of my wheelchair, hobbling over the uneven parts, having a friend lift it, sitting back down, and then continuing on. This maneuver happened several times, and was only possible because I did not have an electric wheelchair and am not paralyzed. This experience helped me understand the importance of public accessibility as more than access to buildings, but also as the route to get to the destination. Instead of walking, or in my case, wheeling, back to the mall, my friend group decided to pick me up at the secondary location because it was too inaccessible to try again.

Researchers (Leiter, 2015) have conducted studies to learn about sidewalk inaccessibility from those with physical disabilities who rely on maintained sidewalks. The study informing this blog analyzed people's experiences navigating sidewalks and the sidewalks themselves. Examples of sidewalk hazards include uneven sidewalks, unmaintained curbs, and other unmaintained elements of a sidewalk that impact a person's ability to walk on the sidewalk safely. Brick sidewalks are one of the most inaccessible sidewalks, according to Leiter (2015), because the bricks do not stay level for long periods of time. While they look historic, they are both a wheelchair hazard and a tripping hazard for many pedestrians due to the fact that the bricks rise unevenly and are not maintained. These hazards are not always visible right away, which can lead to people needing to turn around or find an alternate route partway through. One solution that was identified for wheelchair users was to use the street instead of the sidewalk because it is more maintained. However, this is dangerous for many reasons because streets are not designed for pedestrians. In a perfect world, accessible sidewalks would be maintained for multiple disabilities. There would be contact stimulation for blind people who use canes, level accessibility for wheelchair users, crosswalks with ramps and tactile feedback for blind people, and more. Accessibility is not a one-size-fits-all term, and is needed even with sidewalks. However, currently, many cities do not have accessible sidewalks for disabled people, which can drastically affect the ability to leave the house and run errands, go to work, or even take a stroll.

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Thank you for reading about the accessibility of sidewalks.  If you have any questions or comments, please comment on the blog, reach out at @Anniekrollblog on Instagram or Facebook, or email me at Anniekrollblog@gmail.com. I hope to see you next week!

Citation: Leiter, V. (2015). A bricolage of urban sidewalks: Observing locations of inequality. 13-28.