Sidewalks, connectivity, and corporate irresponsibility

Courtesy: capl@washjeff.edu

One of the things that makes urban core of Durham special is a fairly mature system of sidewalks and trails that contribute to a pedestrian-friendly environment in and around the Ninth Street Shopping District. The  fact that residents and visitors can easily walk to most places adds to the neighborhood's attractiveness both in terms of development and home values. When compared to suburban neighborhoods on the periphery of Durham or towns such as Greensboro or Fayetteville, the city has done well maintaining and enhancing its sidewalk infrastructure.

But there is one glaring hole in this otherwise encouraging story; namely the sordid tale of corporate indifference exhibited by the railroad company Norfolk Southern.   It owns the right-of-way to many (if not all) railroad crossings around Durham. The best example is located in our neighborhood -- just take a look at the sidewalk running alongside Swift avenue, as it crosses Main and Durham Freeway.



First, take a look at  Durham's Sidewalk Improvement Plan, which has a handy interactive map showing sidewalk building progress.

The blue line is supposedly a continuous sidewalk that runs all the way from the beginning of the bridge over the Durham Freeway. The striped line that you see inbetween W. Main and W. Pettigrew street is, of course, the railroad tracks owned and operated by Norfolk Southern.

But when looking at the same intersection in Google street view and you can see how the sidewalk suddenly ends right at the border of Norfolk's right-of-way. Click here for a better view.



 

 

The sidewalk suddenly picks up again on the other side of the tracks, leaving a large swatch of land without any hard walking surface. Which begs the question: are we not supposed to cross the railroad tracks by foot? 

This lack of connectivity is dangerous for everyone: people are more likely to walk on the road when it rains because the ground on both sides of the tracks get wet and soggy. And the area is not well lit at night. But for our wheelchair-bound residents the situation is downright intolerable -- they simply do not have a way to cross onto Swift without having to travel on the main road where a risk of collisions with a careless or simply inattentive driver would be particularly high.




So, who is responsible? Is it the city that is for some reason unable to convince the railroad to grant them a sidewalk easement?  Or is it the railroad that does not appear concerned about the safety of people living nearby its tracks? Or perhaps it is the fault of the U.S. Department of Justice, which entered into but has not enforced a comprehensive settlement with the city of Durham that requires the city to remedy persistent and flagrant violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act by installing curbs and sidewalks on city streets.

Whoever is at fault, the consequences are clear: as the following map of pedestrian crashes demonstrates, there have been numerous accidents around this intersection the past year.