EDITORIAL - Making sidewalks PWD-friendly easier said than done

It has come to the attention of a city councilor that some sidewalks along Colon Street and adjoining streets aren’t user-friendly to Persons with Disability (PWDs).

Now he wants the Office of the Building Official to look into the matter and take appropriate action.

If the good councilor means to change the sidewalks to make them more user-friendly to PWDs and the public in general --which is actually a laudable endeavor-- he should know that this will be easier said than done.

It has long been an issue that our sidewalks, especially the ones along Colon Street aren’t user-friendly, not for PWDs or anybody for that matter.

It’s a topsy-turvy collection of surfaces with various grades, makes, sizes, and even levels. Take a walk along them and you can find yourself stepping over flood barriers, going up or down a ramp, or going up or down steps. In many places you have to jump over a gutter to move off the sidewalk and into the street.

In some areas there is actually very little or even no sidewalk to speak of, forcing people to walk in the street to get to where they have to.

Yes, it isn’t friendly to those without any disability, imagine how it is for PWDs. Yes, we see the occasional ramp from the street to the sidewalk to allow PWD access, but these are few and far between.

Of course, we cannot blame the establishments these sidewalks belong to. They were not built at the same time. They do not have the same budget. Some of them are not even built on the same level even as they are adjacent to each other. Others have to build flood barriers to hold back the water after a heavy rain, while others just build higher.

If there is indeed a plan to make our sidewalks more uniform and ergo more user-friendly to PWDs --and again we say that such a pursuit is worthy-- this will entail a lot of effort and political will.

And that is because if the sidewalks have to be changed, then many establishments have to be involved in such a plan. Many of them may be loath to make some changes, or not have the budget for such a move at all. Let’s hope our city administration will be up to the challenge.