GREENFIELD –Work began in October to prepare for a major project on State Road 9 in Greenfield, which will create a new median and new turn lanes intended to make the road safer for drivers. But like many road projects in recent years, it will include a component that’s not as well-publicized. During the construction process, workers will take the time to make alterations that make sidewalks more accessible to wheelchair users.
Since 2016, the city of Greenfield has completed about 600 curb ramps that comply with standards required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Curb ramps, also known as curb cuts, replace the sharp dropoff of the sidewalk with a sloped surface that allows people using wheelchairs to easily navigate sidewalks and cross streets. Part of the ongoing work is visible now along parts of Main Street at various cross streets.
Jim Matthews, a Greenfield resident who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair full time, said the accessibility along Greenfield’s streets used to be “fair to poor.” Now, he said, it’s improved to the point of being “fair to good.”
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Greenfield street commissioner Tyler Rankins said creating ADA-accessible sidewalks when working on a construction project is a significant addition of time and effort.
“It adds a lot to the project,” he said.
Rankins estimated that the process of adding curb slopes to streets in Greenfield is approximately 20% complete. The city has also done other work to make sidewalks and streets more accessible, including adding rumble strips that can help blind or visually impaired people cross streets: The altered surface helps them detect the change in texture and warn them when they are about to step into the street. Rankins said the street department has also removed hundreds of trip hazards from city sidewalks in the past few years through various repairs.
Rankins said the additional expenses of creating accessible sidewalks are worth it to make the city more navigable for wheelchair users. (Pinpointing the cost of this work since the campaign began is difficult, since the expense is mostly built in to expenses for larger street projects, Rankins said.)
“It’s something that needs to be done,” he said of the improvements.
Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Mallory Duncan said accessibility is an important priority for INDOT, and that significant progress on the issue has been made in the Greenfield district during the past five years. If a road project is receiving INDOT funding, the inclusion of more accessible sidewalks is a requirement.
Despite the improvements that have been made, Matthews said it is still frequently difficult to navigate around Greenfield in his wheelchair. Uneven sidewalks with separations between each slab of pavement are some of the worst culprits, he said; traveling over them in a wheelchair can be as jarring and noisy as traveling in a train, and far less comfortable.
“There are places in the city where it’s just disastrous,” Matthews said.
The work that has been done in the past few years has been a definite improvement, Matthews said, although some problems remain.
“Sometimes, unfortunately, improvements are not any better than what was there before,” Matthews said, adding that some newly paved sidewalks begin to separate quickly. He also said some projects that are intended to include curb cuts don’t place them correctly, making the sidewalks no easier to navigate. Bad weather can also mean that some improvements to sidewalks begin to deteriorate quickly.
Poor-quality sidewalks make life as a wheelchair user more difficult, Matthews said, increasing the amount of time he needs to get from point A to point B independently.
Matthews said he knows city leaders in Greenfield do not want to enact new taxes, but sometimes it is necessary to put more money toward a project like more accessible infrastructure. Currently, sidewalks in a state of disrepair are often not fixed until work is being done on the adjacent street.
“I’ll probably be hung in effigy in some quarters for saying this,” Matthews joked about the prospect of raising taxes. “We have to stop waiting for some future time when the street’s going to be repaired to repair sidewalks.”