Sidewalk wheelchair / bicycle ramps

[Glen Miyashiro]

I noticed that at intersections all over the city, what look to me to be perfectly good corner sidewalk ramps are being torn up and replaced by... corner sidewalk ramps. What was wrong with the old ones, anyway? :confused:

[pzarquon]

If this hasn't been well covered in some TV or newspaper "government waste" expose, it should be. Basically, the rush to comply with ADA had the city and/or state cutting wheelchair ramps that were not, technically, compliant. That is, they were ramps, but in terms of grade, orientation, and distance from this or that, they weren't good enough. So, they're redoing them all.

Some of the old ramps, you knew there were problematic... say, cut around light/traffic posts, so they'd be useful only if you could magically split yourself in half as you roll through...

[Glen Miyashiro]

Oooookay. And this mistake is costing us how much? :mad:

[kimo55]

If this hasn't been well covered in some TV or newspaper "government waste" expose, it should be. Basically, the rush to comply with ADA had the city and/or state cutting wheelchair ramps that were not, technically, compliant. That is, they were ramps, but in terms of grade, orientation, and distance from this or that, they weren't good enough. So, they're redoing them all.

Some of the old ramps, you knew there were problematic... say, cut around light/traffic posts, so they'd be useful only if you could magically split yourself in half as you roll through...

yea. they redo alll the ramps, but leave fire hydrants in the middle of sidewalks.
this was initiated by that cretin that sued alll those lil mom and pop shops and restaurants for non compliance, etc. wih bathrooms that were a few inches smaller than the whatever bullsh1# ada standards. THIS ONE person initiated and pushed this. causing ALLL this waste and inconvenience to us all.
many have said:
if this were another country:
take him out.
pop.
badda BING badda boom.
end of story. No more problem.
WHY do we allow this in the, uh.. "land of the free, home of the brave"?

[1stwahine]

I'm just glad it's getting fixed the way it should have been made in the first place. The way my legs are deteriorating, I will be using a wheelchair soon. If it wasn't fixed, being me, I would have gone through some street light pole! ( :) smile everyone)

[Glen Miyashiro]

this was initiated by that cretin that sued alll those lil mom and pop shops and restaurants for non compliance, etc. wih bathrooms that were a few inches smaller than the whatever bullsh1# ada standards. THIS ONE person initiated and pushed this. causing ALLL this waste and inconvenience to us all.So... you think that the ADA standards are useless, Kimo?

many have said:
if this were another country:
take him out.
pop.
badda BING badda boom.
end of story. No more problem.
WHY do we allow this in the, uh.. "land of the free, home of the brave"?Boy. If you actually mean things like this, then I'm really glad you're just an online blowhard and not someone with any actual power. Or are you going to come back and say "jezz jokin brah" like you so often do?

[Linkmeister]

It was covered on TV news at some point, because I remember hearing/seeing someone (probably Dick Allgire or maybe Keoki Kerr) talking about it, with visual aids! (A curb cut somewhere downtown).

[kimo55]

So... you think that the ADA standards are useless, Kimo?



uhh. how did you get that I mean...ahh nevermind.


"many have said:
if this were another country:
take him out.
pop.
badda BING badda boom.
end of story. No more problem.
WHY do we allow this in the, uh.. "land of the free, home of the brave"?

Boy. If you actually mean things like this,
yes, I actually mean: "Many people have said if this were another country, ....."


I'm really glad you're just an online blowhard are you going to come back and say "jezz jokin brah" like you so often do?


No, I am not "jezz jokin brah". I am serious when I say it is supremely, disappointingly sad... pathetically myopic... to see namecalling replace intelligent factfinding and exploring of a serious "issue". And the thoughtless, extreme reaction of "Oh well, yer against any and all Americans with Disabilities Act standards".
no. you can't get there from here.

[kimo55]

Some of the old ramps, you knew there were problematic... say, cut around light/traffic posts, so they'd be useful only if you could magically split yourself in half as you roll through...

but as i say, just down from the ramps every here and there, we see a fire hydrant in the middle of the sidewalk. Still.

In a few years, the ADA will change. Again. And someone will sue. Again. And/Or, someone will sue, first, and then the ADA standards will be forced to change. Again. And allll these ramps will be completely redone AGAIN, because a new standard will be set as far as grade, or width of ramp, or whatever. Do we see ANYONE using these ramps? And do we see anyone getting stuck on these ramps?
I know how painfully politically incorrect it is to bring any attention to any aspect of this but when it gets to this degree and millions of dollars are spent that otherwise could go to good use, JEzuz KEEEristonapogostick! Good sense goes out the window immediately if ANYone wants to say; hold on a minute! what's going ON here!?

and the mom and pop restaurant bathroom lawsuits are forcing all these small businesses to be shut down.
Before this jerk and his lawsuit crept up from the slime, how bad was ANYthing for anyone?

[Glen Miyashiro]

In a few years, the ADA will change. Again. And someone will sue. Again. And/Or, someone will sue, first, and then the ADA standards will be forced to change. Again. And allll these ramps will be completely redone AGAIN, because a new standard will be set as far as grade, or width of ramp, or whatever. Do we see ANYONE using these ramps? And do we see anyone getting stuck on these ramps?I see people using them, regularly. In wheelchairs. I haven't asked them whether they thought the ramps were sloped wrong, but I'm sure they would have noticed.

I know how painfully politically incorrect it is to bring any attention to any aspect of this but when it gets to this degree and millions of dollars are spent that otherwise could go to good use, JEzuz KEEEristonapogostick! Good sense goes out the window immediately if ANYone wants to say; hold on a minute! what's going ON here!?No; good sense goes out the window when you start ranting instead of talking sensibly. So... do I take it that you think that accomodating wheelchair users is not a "good use" of that money? See, that's something you can actually have a reasonable discussion about.

and the mom and pop restaurant bathroom lawsuits are forcing all these small businesses to be shut down.
Before this jerk and his lawsuit crept up from the slime, how bad was ANYthing for anyone?Hey, don't blame the jerk and his lawsuit, blame the law that the courts found wasn't being followed. The law that Congress passed. The law that the President signed.

If you think a law is stupid, then get it changed. I mean, Mel thinks most of our tax laws are no good, but he doesn't blame the tax collectors for doing their job. He blames the legislature, and by proxy the voters, for passing those laws. I may not agree with his opinion, but I respect his methods.

[kimo55]

Oooookay. And this mistake is costing us how much? :mad:

So... you think that the ADA standards are useless, Glen?

[pzarquon]

Since this topic is drifting anyway... here are some articles and editorials on ADA litigation in Hawaii (http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Astarbulletin.com+americans+disabil ities+act+lawsuit). I believe the ADA activist referenced above is Lunsford Phillips (L&L Drive-Inn (http://starbulletin.com/2000/05/17/business/story1.html) and Hyatt (http://starbulletin.com/2000/02/29/business/story2.html) were two of the bigger cases)... and there's a reason why we haven't heard from him (http://starbulletin.com/2004/04/20/news/story2.html) recently.

[Glen Miyashiro]

So... you think that the ADA standards are useless, Glen?No, the ADA standards are fine. The government guys who didn't plan properly and wasted a bunch of my tax money by not doing the job right the first time, now they're another story. :(

[kimo55]

No, the ADA standards are fine. The government guys who didn't plan properly and wasted a bunch of my tax money by not doing the job right the first time, now they're another story. :(

sorry to use your quote, but you see my point now.
I think all this ramp and restaurant bathroom business should have been approached much differently.

[Glen Miyashiro]

sorry to use your quote, but you see my point now.
I think all this ramp and restaurant bathroom business should have been approached much differently.Was that your original point? Yeesh, why didn't you say so. :rolleyes:

[kimo55]

Was that your original point? Yeesh, why didn't you say so. :rolleyes:


welll... you know how circuitous I can get!

[Glen Miyashiro]

welll... you know how circuitous I can get!Yes. Yes, I do.

[craigwatanabe]

ADA and I thought those ramps were for those motorized scooters to terrorize the walking public! :rolleyes:

[Glen Miyashiro]

Hey, I've been in cities where the motorized wheelchairs terrorize the walking public! Those guys may be paraplegic, but give 'em a juiced-up chair and they're hell on wheels. :p

[kimo55]

Hey, I've been in cities where the motorized wheelchairs terrorize the walking public! Those guys may be paraplegic, but give 'em a juiced-up chair and they're hell on wheels. :p
Heard of this new offshoot of the Olympics whereby these fellas above, and dudes on Segways battle it out.

[1stwahine]

Hey, I've been in cities where the motorized wheelchairs terrorize the walking public! Those guys may be paraplegic, but give 'em a juiced-up chair and they're hell on wheels. :p

wea? wea? i like get me one lil dat to terrorize da dealers chinatown! ;)

[pzarquon]

Hey, I've been in cities where the motorized wheelchairs terrorize the walking public! Those guys may be paraplegic, but give 'em a juiced-up chair and they're hell on wheels.Heh. Mr. Lawsuit as mentioned in this thread is quite well known downtown for his particularly aggressive driving manner. He either had an office in my old building (Pioneer Plaza) or visited often, and heaven help you if you were waiting too close to the elevator door when it opened...