Visually-impaired woman taking on city hall over Macomb's dangerous sidewalks

KHQA, Illinois USA
Friday, October 26, 2007

Visually-impaired woman taking on city hall over Macomb's dangerous sidewalks

By Kera Mashek

Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007 at 3:15 p.m.

MACOMB IL -- A Macomb woman who's visually-impaired is taking on city hall.  
She says the city's sidewalks make it hard for her and other people with 
disabilities to get around safely. We wanted to know more about those problems, 
and what the city is going to do about it.

Laura Booth is a fighter.  Diabetes caused her to lose her sight a few years 
ago...but that didn't stop her from going back to school. She's a senior at 
Western Illinois University.  And she says some of the the city's sidewalks 
deserve a failing grade.  So she wants the city to fix them.

We asked, "So now that you know this problem is out there, how are you going to 
fix it?"

"Well, it's one of those things that we don't have a lot of money to throw at 
things. But it's going to take money. And so we're going to have to take some 
money out of our infrastructure tax fund and do some things that are really 
going to help the worst areas," said Macomb Mayor Mick Wisslead.

Booth says there are many problems with the sidewalks in Macomb. Take the one 
at Calhoun and Charles streets. It's sloping and has several cracks. On top of 
that, it's very narrow, which makes it difficult for people with disabilities 
to get around.

"With some of the sidewalks it's tough to tell if it's a sidewalk I'm walking 
on or if it's a parking lot or if it's the actual street," Booth said.

At times, Laura has ended up out into the road with traffic whizzing by. Mayor 
Wisslead has asked Laura and her friends with the Macomb Diversity Group for a 
list of those sidewalks so they can set a repair schedule.

"Hopefully in the new budget we can put more money in for sidewalks and define 
what areas need to be fixed," said Mayor Wisslead.

"Although we've primarily focused on persons with disabilities--sidewalks need 
to be maintained and improved for all people," said Booth.

Mayor Wisslead pointed out the city has recently replaced almost all sidewalks 
in downtown Macomb.  And the city is applying for Safe Routes to School grants 
from the Illinois Department of Transportation.  Those grants would pay to 
repair walkways near public schools.

Now as we mentioned, many of the sidewalks Laura Booth is concerned about are 
owned by the city of Macomb...but some of them are Western Illinois University 
property.  So we did some digging to find out how the university makes sure its 
sidewalks are safe for students...and here are the answers for you.

We asked, "What issues have you noticed with sidewalks in Macomb and at W. 
Illinois University?"

"Well personally I've noticed that some of them are very narrow..And so for 
persons using wheelchairs or scooters or walkers, it's very limiting...And 
there's some broken up pavement," said Booth.

We asked, "Once you've identified an area that isn't safe, how do you fix it?"

"Typically if it's an immediate safety concern and it's in the middle of the 
winter or inclement weather, we may have to cut off access to the sidewalk area 
to prevent people from using it because most of our work gets done in the 
summer when less students and faculty are around. At that time we'd actually go 
in and demolish it and replace it with new paving," said Charles Darnell, 
director of WIU's physical plant.

Charles Darnell says Western typically replaces about $100,000 worth of 
sidewalks each year..But he knows there are still areas for improvement. Some 
of the sidewalks around the campus perimeter are brick, and are crumbling. 
Others like the one near the Beau Health Center don't meet the Americans with 
Disabilities Act's recommendations for the amount of slope. Darnell says there 
have been a lot of talks about replacing that area of walkway...there's just 
not enough money to go around. But that's not stopping Laura Booth from 
expressing her concerns. Booth's already contacted the school's disability 
support services. And she hopes one day all campus sidewalks will be repaired 
so they're safe for everyone.

Darnell says all complaints about sidewalk safety are taken very seriously.  
And he encourages students and faculty to express their concerns anytime to 
either the physical plant office or disability support services.


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