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Vague_Disclosure t1_ja8s9eu wrote

Reply to comment by Hoyarugby in [Inquirer] Philadelphia collected $21 million in fees to improve pedestrian safety. Sidewalks are still treacherous. by Hoyarugby

Kenney ran on a promise to improve sidewalks and yet did very little on the issue, pretty much describes his entire term

But a little less snarky and more on topic, I personally didn't realize how bad of shape the sidewalks are in until I started pushing a stroller around. Contractor's who close off sidewalks without the pedestrian chute should be fined out of existence.

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CoffeeCrisis t1_jaa44h6 wrote

I don't understand how almost every single work site I see completely commandeers sidewalks without any repercussions. I'm not even surprised when I see it. Can't the city hire a single person to go around fining the shit out of people?

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all_akimbo t1_jab1t7u wrote

I had 36 email chain with my council person who brought in someone senior at the streets department (maybe head engineer?) about this on my block. The dude even came to see it and said “I gave them a hard time and told them not to block the sidewalk anymore”. Reader, you will be shocked to learn that nothing changed.

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craftyangie t1_jab5b5w wrote

Same here. I for weeks I begged to anyone listening to please ask a construction company, to not force children (going to a k-8 school) to go through an active construction zone. Took about 2 weeks for anyone to do anything…but the construction guys are still parking their trucks blocking the crosswalks completely. Once they left about 12” for kids, strollers and handicapped to get through (the other sidewalk was closed off for construction)! Near my work that company insists on blocking the crosswalk to my building, plus both of our exits are constantly blocked off by construction vehicles, equipment and materials (both for new and waste). They’ve expanded well beyond their “110 feet” of sidewalk, according to the permit, it’s disgusting (because of the waste) and dangerous (because peds and cyclists don’t know what to do). The city would make so much money going around and fining them; but no one thinks it’s wrong until someone dies.

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all_akimbo t1_jab70fk wrote

I think everyone on both the political and administrative side of things here has an extremely apologetic attitude towards things like blocking sidewalks, intersections, etc..

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CoffeeCrisis t1_jabfyno wrote

😂it's almost like shitty contractors will only listen to heavy fines

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bigL162 t1_jaeld7y wrote

>Can't the city hire a single person to go around fining the shit out of people?

I think that's the problem, they legit have 4 inspectors assigned to right of way issues for the entire city. The odds of being flagged by one of them is probably similar to the odds of playing the lottery and losing.

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CoffeeCrisis t1_jaenl4s wrote

That doesn't make any sense, these dudes would pay for themselves in like a day of working

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Zhuul t1_ja93hnh wrote

I used a cart to pick up a catering order for my office and damn near rattled my teeth out of my skull, the sidewalks in center city are shockingly bad in spots

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DuvalHeart t1_jacjkkt wrote

The city should just fix them and bill the property owners. If they don't pay put a lein on the property. Problem solved.

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Hoyarugby OP t1_ja9hnhl wrote

To my shame it's something that I never really thought about, the video they posted was extremely eye opening

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Vague_Disclosure t1_ja9tw6q wrote

eh, nothing shameful about not understanding something if you haven't experienced it, especially something as seemingly trivial as a sidewalk

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apricot57 t1_ja9xmxo wrote

Not something I thought about much until I started nursing and was exposed to way more people who used wheelchairs/walkers/canes to move. It's really horrendous.

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cashonlyplz t1_ja9oxyr wrote

>Contractor's who close off sidewalks without the pedestrian chute should be fined out of existence.

Hear, hear. at the very least be properly marked at eye level -- I feel like even that's only happening ~30% of the time.

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sharksnack3264 t1_ja9yin6 wrote

Yeah, even if you're not on wheels but are relying on a cane or crutches or a walking boot they can be really treacherous in places. Nearly wiped out a couple of times last year when I broke my foot.

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spleenboggler t1_jabcbqm wrote

I'll never forget when I was walking my then-infant daughter, we stopped near a building site, and then moments later watched those guys heave some debris out the third floor window and onto the sidewalk, where we would have been.

I started yelling at those guys, saying that we were right here, and they could have hurt us both. I couple of "sorry"s and "my fault"s from them, and then some guy started in about how it was a building site, and we should have known and shouldn't be near it, and man, let's just say it was good that my daughter was pre-verbal.

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