State officials are ramping up their efforts to make Arlington sidewalks, crosswalks and other walkways safer for pedestrians.
About 2,300 handicap-accessible ramps and other improvements will be added to Arlington-area street corners during the next roughly 18 months. The work will be done in four corridors: Division Street, Interstate 20, Interstate 30 and Texas 360.The aim of the project, which is covered by a $3.37 million Texas Department of Transportation grant, is to make walkways near highways accessible for people with disabilities, senior citizens and people with child strollers. The Americans With Disabilities Act requires local governments to build sidewalks and crossings to help people who use wheelchairs, walkers and canes."Where there's a corner that needs to come into compliance, that's where we will build them," said Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Val Lopez, adding that the program amounts to about $15 million a year statewide.The $3.37 million contract was awarded to Ken Do Contracting of DeSoto, and will continue one intersection at a time through early 2014.Various projectsOn the Division Street corridor, the work will cover street corners along a roughly 13-mile stretch from Rand Street in east Fort Worth -- where the corridor is better known as East Lancaster Avenue -- to 25th Street in Grand Prairie.On I-20, street crossings will cover about nine miles from Treasure Island Trail near the Arlington-Fort Worth border to New York Avenue in southeast Arlington.On I-30, improvements will cover about a mile from Fielder Road to Cooper Street.On Texas 360, the work will be done over about 12 miles, from Heritage Parkway in Mansfield to Cloverdale Street in Arlington."There will be minimal impact on traffic," Lopez said. "Once in a while, we'll need to close a shoulder to pour concrete."The improvements come as Arlington officials continue to deal with criticism that many streets in the city aren't safe for pedestrians.And it's a conundrum that many other cities deal with, too. Automobile fatalities have dropped to their lowest level since 1949, but deaths involving pedestrians are on the rise, according to statistics kept by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.Nationwide, 4,280 pedestrians were killed in 2010, a 4.2 percent increase from the year before.In 2010, 70,000 pedestrians were hurt, a 19 percent increase from 59,000 in 2009.Dangerous areaDallas-Fort Worth is the 10th-most-dangerous U.S. metro area for pedestrians, according to Transportation for America, a coalition of housing, business, environmental and other groups that pushes for more mobility funding in Washington. The Metroplex had 942 pedestrian fatalities in 2000-09, based on the coalition's analysis of federal highway reports.In Arlington, at least seven people have been killed trying to cross South Cooper Street since 2000, a review of federal data and Star-Telegram archives shows.In 2011, city officials approved a $55.3 million long-term plan to promote walking and cycling -- including 125 miles of bike lanes and paths and 145 miles of sidewalk upgrades.The sidewalk portion is expected to cost roughly $15 million.In 2005, Arlington was sued by Richard Frame, a quadriplegic who has used a wheelchair since a 1999 car wreck. Frame and other plaintiffs say the new sidewalks aren't fully accessible.The U.S. Supreme Court declined this year to hear Arlington's appeal of the lawsuit. The case can now head back to U.S. district court for trial.Gordon Dickson, 817-390-7796Twitter: @gdicksonHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
