In the Fenway, a Little Dig causes big brouhaha
As far as tipster John B. Kelly is concerned, it's a simple matter, really. When the city of Boston or private contractors working on its behalf make sidewalk repairs, they need to provide a safe walkway for pedestrians during the construction.
"Whenever you dig up a sidewalk, the law says you have to allow pedestrians to pass safely," said Kelly, an activist for handicap-accessibility issues who uses a motorized wheelchair. "All I want is public safety to be maintained at the level that the law requires."
Kelly contacted GlobeWatch last week after a contractor digging up a section of sidewalk for more than a week on Norway Street in the Fenway left the hole with just some yellow hazard tape around it.
A visit by a Globe reporter found pedestrians had to either step into the street and walk against traffic to get by or, if in a wheelchair, head to the far end of the street in order to find a ramp to get across and then all the way back down Norway. The hole also blocked one entrance to a small park.
While the problem is one that occurs often across the city, it's especially egregious here, said Kelly, because the sidewalk work occurs in front of Morville House, a high-rise for the elderly. Last week, Kelly said he saw an elderly woman with a cane walking at night in the middle of the street to avoid the construction.
Kelly said he and other disability advocates met with Public Works Superintendent Dennis Royer in late August to voice complaints about Ciccone & Sons. According to Kelly, this contractor frequently does sidewalk repairs for the city, but often does not provide the necessary pedestrian access. At the meeting, Kelly said, they were told the contractor would be reprimanded and made to comply with the law.
The same contractor, who has been doing major sidewalk work on West Newton Street in the South End, recently put up a sign saying "sidewalk closed" and directed pedestrians to the other side of the street, said Kelly. But that sidewalk was also dug up and impassable, he said.
Kelly suspects most contractors know the law, but ignore it until forced to comply because "it costs them time and money," he said. "This goes on every day and no one seems to notice. 'When forced to, we will' " seems to be the prevailing attitude, said Kelly.
The city responds
When contacted by GlobeWatch last Tuesday, city spokeswoman Jennifer Mehigan responded in an e-mail that "it looks like a contractor on a city project is doing work there. If so, our contractors are required to put up signage . . . at the closest intersection if ever a sidewalk is blocked because of construction. I will have a [Public Works] inspector go out and check it."
Whether the site was checked, or whether this contractor has been involved with sidewalk-access issues before, is still unclear because repeated calls and e-mails to Mehigan were not answered by late Thursday afternoon.
Kelly said he saw "sidewalk closed" signs had been put up on Wednesday afternoon, but "it's not a good solution" and he believes it would be better to have a temporary ramp and a makeshift walkway marked by barrels or other barriers between traffic and the construction.
Kelly also said his advocacy group received a letter dated Sept. 20 from Royer saying the city will penalize contractors who do not comply with access laws on city-funded projects.
"I believe we do a reasonable job of supervising city contractors," the letter said. "Our problems stem from contractors working for developers. We do not control their contracts but we do control their permits and can implement increased fines for these violations. We will work to amend these requirements to specifically address ADA accessibility during construction or establish fines for such failures."
WHO'S IN CHARGE
Dennis Royer
Chief of Public Works and Transportation Department of Public Works
Room 714
1City Hall Plaza
Boston, MA 02201
617-635-4900
