Clark County’s disabled residents are joining the statewide demand for more sidewalks

Groups of mobility initiatives are streamed live on St. James Rd. And St. Johns Blvd. in Vancouver

Imagine standing on the edge of a busy street waiting for the signal to be crossed.

It’s windy, rainy, and you are on a muddy, uneven surface. There should be a sidewalk leading to the intersection, but for some reason there isn’t one. So you nervously wait for your turn and hope that the drivers are looking for pedestrians.

Paulo Nunes-Ueno, Head of Front and Center Transportation, speaks to Anna Zivarts and residents of Disability Right Washington during the mobility initiative’s livestream on Thursday from Minnehaha, St. James and St. Johns Streets in Vancouver. Photo by Dan Trujillo

Do you feel safe when the signal changes to cross the street? Most able-bodied people can cross the intersection quickly while keeping an eye on all drivers. But what do you do when you can’t see, can’t hear, or need a cane or wheelchair to move around?

Betty Fitzpatrick and her three daughters live near the intersection of Minnehaha, St. James, and St. Johns Streets in Vancouver. They contacted city and county officials to install pedestrian-accessible signals at these intersections and to have sidewalks built on both sides of the street. On Thursday, Fitzpatrick and other disabled residents of Clark County spoke during the live-stream conference of Disability Rights Washington and the Front and Centered Mobility Initiative on-site.

“We were told this was a city question or the city said it was a county question,” said Fitzpatrick. “We don’t really want to care what the problem is, we just want sidewalks and pedestrian-accessible lights here.”

Chris Higley, a Vancouver resident for 20 years, described how audio and visual cues can help pedestrians at these intersections.

“St. Johns and St. James are both one-way streets, and that means vehicles travel at high speed, ”said Higley. “I stand on grass where there should be a sidewalk. It’s very loud and there are no audible or verbal transitions to help me understand when it is safe to leave. And because vehicles go so fast, I worry about getting hit. “

Abby Griffith takes a 15-minute walk from her home in Vancouver to the nearest bus stop every day. A 20-minute drive to her classes at Washington State University Vancouver takes over two hours as she has to make two transfers at a time.

“Going from my house to the bus stop is a real struggle for me. It’s just so exhausting to leave my house, ”said Griffith. “What does it take to bring bus stops closer to low-income apartments? Low-income people rely on public transport. “

After the conference, Griffith, Higley, and other speakers demonstrated the difficulty of crossing the streets of St. James and St. Johns on foot by taking the livestream audience across the intersections.

Paulo Nunes-Ueno, Head of Front and Center Transportation, pointed to the side of St. James Road with no sidewalk and said, “What you see here is an ongoing deal. Washington state has a backlog of over $ 9 billion for sidewalks and active transportation that don’t go through. This is an ongoing deal and we have to get through it. “

According to Anna Zivarts, Washington disability rights program director, cities and counties can apply for grants from the Washington State Department of Transportation to build new sidewalks, but the pool is so big and the chance of getting funding is so slim.

“Compared to what we spend on highway projects, it’s not very much money that people ask, but it’s not allocated,” Zivatis said.

Clark County Today has sent questions to members of Clark County Public Works and has not yet received a response. Zivatis hopes that they can arrange a meeting with these officials and county residents and work together to create a safer and more affordable solution for all.

“It is not that cities and counties do not want infrastructure for sidewalks and public transport to exist,” said Zivatis. “It’s just how we can get the funds for it and where it’s going to come from.”

Front and Centered and Disability Rights Washington has interviewed community members in every city in Washington, including Vancouver, for the past six months. Together they create a transportation roadmap to show where sidewalks and bus stops are needed. To participate, visit www.disabilityrightswa.org/storymap.