Monday, November 9, 2009

Curb cuts too steep for wheelchair

This is an important topic found in many places around the world...

November 8, 2009 By GWEN YOUNG AND MICHAEL R. EBERT gwen.young@newsday.com, michael.ebert@newsday.com

In the Village of Northport, there are several sidewalk curb cuts in the downtown area that are dangerously steep for someone like me, who must use a wheelchair. They're at such a sharp angle that if I tried to navigate them, my wheelchair would tip backwards and fall over. I've been asking village officials for the past 10-12 years that I have been using a wheelchair, as a result of multiple sclerosis to fix the curb cuts, so that I can remain as independent as possible, but there have been no changes.

- Tamar Sherman, Northport

Granted, there are structural obstacles (like a storm drain and manhole cover) and other obstructions that need to be addressed before the curb cut problem can be fixed, but we can't imagine why the village hasn't moved on this issue sooner. Elected officials have come and gone in the past decade, but the dangerous curb cuts haven't been touched.

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