Category: Work Zones

Land Park & Broadway construction zone issues

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

A new development is under construction on the southeast corner of Land Park Drive and Broadway, the historical site of Tower Records and Tower Books. I am glad to see development, particularly housing, happening here after the lot sitting empty for a bit more than a year. The project name is either Land Park & Broadway, or Tower Broadway. The project description from the City of Sacramento Agency Counter site is:

“MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING/MIX USE – New Five (5) story mixed use development consisting of ground floor retail within a concrete podium and (4) floors of for-rent apartments above. Studios: 39; 1 Bedrooms: 19; 2 Bedrooms: 10”

However, the construction site has several violations of ADA and PROWAG.

The crosswalk over Broadway at 16th Street is closed by a construction fence on the south side. However, there is no detectable warning barrier on the north side, only a sidewalk closed sign with, being on a folding barricade, is a trip hazard, and the pedestrians signal is not covered so that someone with limited vision would know the crosswalk is closed.

photo of Broadway at 16th St closed crosswalk not ADA compliant
Broadway at 16th St closed crosswalk not. ADA compliant

The same problem exists for the crosswalk over Land Park Drive, inappropriate signing posing a tripping hazard, lack of detectable barrier, and pedestrian signal face not covered.

photo of Land Park Dr at Broadway closed crosswalk, not ADA compliant
Land Park Dr at Broadway closed crosswalk, not ADA compliant

On the east side of Land Park Drive approaching the construction site, there is no detectable barrier, signing is placed so that it blocks access to the bus stop, and the construction fence intrudes into the sidewalk. Note that the pedestrian detour sign is not required and probably does nothing to help people walking.

photo of Land Park Dr closed sidewalk, not ADA compliant
Land Park Dr closed sidewalk, not ADA compliant

Getting a little closer, you can see that there is a bus stop for which access has been blocked by the construction signing. The bus stop is no longer accessible to anyone with mobility issues. I just talked to a SacRT employee, who said they had received no communication from either the city or the construction company about this blockage. SacRT will consider temporarily moving the bus stop. The construction company could have placed fencing and signing to maintain access to the stop, with a detectable barrier beyond the stop, but they did not. I suspect the city didn’t even notice this in their Traffic Control Plan. The city generally accepts whatever the construction company writes, without field checking it. It is well known that the city and most construction companies consider walkers and transit users as unimportant.

photo of Land Park Dr no bus stop access
Land Park Dr no bus stop access
Land Park Dr bus stop 1058

I did not check ADA compliance on the Broadway sidewalk approaching this construction site from the east, but would expect to see similar problems there.

While walking Broadway today, I noticed that two construction projects which were reported to the city (311) months ago have not been corrected. So far as I can tell, the city stopped inspecting or enforcing construction sites and Traffic Control Plans months ago.

SacATC review of work zone policy

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Please see previous posts in category ‘Work Zones‘.

The City of Sacramento is hosting a webinar on the draft Work Zone and Event Detour Policy Update, today, January 24, 6:00PM. You can register for the Zoom webinar here(registration is not available on the Work Zone webpage).

I have neglected to post on the SacATC (Sacramento Active Transportation Commission) review of the Work Zone and Event Detour Policy. Commission members had several good ideas and questions, which are worth capturing. You can view the meeting video at https://sacramento.granicus.com/player/clip/5786. Note that the sound quality is very poor, with many dropouts. Since I was at the meeting, I have filled in some details on the comments.

Comments/questions from commissioners:

  • Houpt: advocates should have a chance for input, is that part of the noticing process?
  • Hodel: Old Sac boardwalk (promenade) has been completely closed to bicycles for events; should be consequences for blocking access; supports rerouting motor vehicles is necessary; hefty fines for non-compliance
  • Moore: Class 2 bike lanes are already dangerous so reproducing them as diversions or detours is still dangerous; provide physical safety; rely on automated enforcement, not police presence
  • Gonzalez: is there a definition for ‘short pinch point’?; concerned about monitoring, suggested QRcode at location for immediate report of dangerous situation
  • Gibson: asked for details on enforcement at events; should be separate for short term events versus long-term construction project
  • Banks: how will the city get word out about events and construction that impact access; suggested more photos, particularly for events
  • Erasmus: assistance for event sponsors who may not have the resources to post events
  • Doerr Westbrook: could longer term projects be reflected in Google maps?; there may be some more recent Caltrans info on bicyclist detours; is there a database for locations and TCP documents? Can the document refer to federal guidelines on bicycle facilities for ADT levels, rather than city? (Reply was that the Streets for People Active Transportation Plan will update that guidance, and replace old Bicycle Master Plan at that time)

The Community Development AgencyCounter map (https://sacramento.agencycounter.com/) could be one location to store TCP locations. It does not appear to have document links, but would at least allow people to find locations and request documents.

construction violation on 6th St

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

You may be getting tired of these posts on construction zone failures to accommodate walkers and bicyclists, to to comply with ADA regulations. Well, I’m getting tired of the City of Sacramento Public Works Department completely failing at its responsibility to protect people walking and bicycling. I wonder why it falls to the public to report these issues, rather than to city employees whose job it is to take care of these things. Maybe they should not have their jobs.

This most recently noticed problem is on the east side of 6th Street between I Street and Improv Alley. The building is Riverview Plaza Apartments, a Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) housing, and the project is apparently Riverview Plaza Rehabilitation Project. This construction is not on the city’s AgencyCounter website, perhaps because SHRA is a city/county partnership and assumes it does not need to inform the public.

The sidewalk on the east side of 6th Street is completely blocked by construction. At I Street, there is no advance warning of the sidewalk being closed ahead. At the closure, southbound, there is a chainlink fence, which is not a detectable barrier, and no sidewalk closed sign. The construction extends to the curb, including the sidewalk buffer. From the south, there is no advance warning of the sidewalk being closed ahead, either at Improv Alley or at J Street. At the closure, there is a scaffolding, which is not a detectable barrier, and a small paper sidewalk closed sign, not compliant with CA-MUTCD or PROWAG. At the time I walked past, there were two delivery vehicles double-parked on the street, so even if a person wanted to walk around the closure, they would be forced out into traffic on 6th Street. This situation is a complete failure on the part of the construction company, and the city.

photo of SHRA construction on 6th St, no advance warning, no sign on chainlink fence
SHRA construction on 6th St, no advance warning, no sign on chainlink fence
photo of SHRA construction on 6th St, scaffolding as barrier, non-compliant paper sidewalk closed sign
SHRA construction on 6th St, scaffolding as barrier
photo of SHRA construction on 6th St, scaffolding as barrier, non-compliant paper sidewalk closed sign

SHRA construction on 6th St, scaffolding as barrier, non-compliant paper sidewalk closed sign

Work Zone webinar January 24

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The City of Sacramento is hosting a webinar on the draft Work Zone and Event Detour Policy Update, tomorrow, January 24, 6:00PM. You can register for the Zoom webinar here (registration is not available on the Work Zone webpage).

With two posts today on construction zone violations, and hundreds of reports to 311, and a series of posts on the work zone policy, I hope that you will agree with me that this is a critical issue for everyone who walks or bicycles in the city (or drives, for that matter), and will attend this webinar. This will probably be the last chance for public education and input before the policy goes to city council, perhaps in February.

The two most important steps to improve the draft policy are:

  • acknowledge PROWAG (Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines) as the overriding legal requirement for alternate pedestrian access routes
  • establish a monitoring program which requires city staff (or contracted services) to monitor construction projects of more than one day with a visit at the beginning of the project, and at reasonable intervals thereafter

For other improvements to the policy that could be made, please see previous posts in category ‘Work Zones‘.

Work Zone and Event Detour Policy banner

reason #937 against diagonal ramps

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

On the northwest corner of 9th Street and Capitol Mall, the construction project on the east side, Jesse Unruh State Office Building Renovation, has closed the sidewalk on the northeast corner, and therefore the crosswalk over 9th Street north side. In general, the construction project has done a good job of signing and barriers to comply with ADA. State projects, though not perfect, are more likely to be compliant with ADA than any of the city or private projects.

photo of 9th St & Capitol Mall NW difficult corner
9th St & Capitol Mall NW difficult corner

There should be a barrier across the crosswalk at this location, to indicate that the crosswalk is closed and the opposite side inaccessible. There is a barrier, and the correct sign, but the barrier is not blocking the crosswalk. But it can’t! If the barrier were placed to block this crosswalk, it would also block the crosswalk over Capitol Mall, which is not a closed crosswalk. That is just one of the things wrong with diagonal ramps. They make it impossible to correctly place barriers and signing for closed crosswalks and sidewalks.

Two actions could make this better. One, cover the pedestrian countdown signal so that it is not visible, and therefore subject to misunderstanding by limited vision walkers. But this would only be safe if, two, the crosswalk were completely blocked by barriers, and a temporary ramp to the Capitol Mall crosswalk placed, to the right of the barriers.

Diagonal ramps are now illegal everywhere via PROWAG, but of course existing diagonal ramps do not need to be corrected unless the corner is subject to modification for other reasons. The city has known for years that diagonal ramps are poor practice, but has continued to build them, or allow them to be built. And sadly, has even allowed illegal ramps to be built: serious concerns about Broadway.

Posts related to the work zone guidelines are linked via category ‘Work Zones‘ within City of Sacramento category. Posts about construction project issues, previous to and after the release of the draft guidelines, of which there are a huge number, are linked via tag ‘construction zone‘ within Active Transportation category.

16th & E construction uncorrected

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The construction project at 16th Street & E Street, southwest corner, 500 16th Street, apparently called Studio 30, an affordable apartment complex, still has not corrected its significant flaws in ADA signing and barriers. An earlier post covered the difficulty in properly signing and routing due to the city’s mistake in prohibiting crossing on the north side of the 16th Street and F Street intersection: SacCity bad work zone and bad street design converge.

I reported the ADA violations on January 3, 2024. I checked the project today, 20 days later. Nothing has been corrected. Every violation of ADA standards, which is basically every one, is the same as it was. Apparently the city has decided not to follow up on my 311 report, or the construction company has decided not to correct anything. This is sad.

One thing I noticed today that I had not noticed last time is detour signs on the northeast corner of E Street & 15th Street. The sign directions are nonsensical. The signs may have once been set correctly, but if so, they have been moved, and now communicate incorrect information. This is what happens when signs are placed and then not monitored, by the city and by the construction company.

photo of E St 15th St NE confusing detour signs
E St 15th St NE confusing detour signs

The folding barricades used around this project (which are trip hazards) are labeled with JVB, for JVB Construction Management. I have more recently been paying more attention to who places the construction signs and barriers. This is the first project I’ve noticed by this company, not surprising since it is a southern California company. From now on when I blog about work zone failures, I will do my best to identify who is responsible. Of course it is not just the construction company that is responsible, the city is also responsible.

N Street & 14th Street construction

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

At a recent meeting, people asked me about the crossing of N Street at 14th Street, what I thought of the pedestrian prohibition, and why I hadn’t reported it as I do most other construction related issues.

N Street is a three lane one-way street, reduced to two lanes by construction at the state capitol, and the CADA construction project on the southwest corner of N Street and 14th Street. At this construction project, the parking lane and rightmost lane are closed, with a barrier and fence along N Street. The barrier and fence block driver view of the crosswalk on the east side of the N Street/14th Street crosswalk, until just before the crosswalk. This is a situation not addressed by CA-MUTCD, nor the proposed city Draft Criteria and Guidance to Accommodate Active Transportation in Work Zones and at Events, or work zone guide for short.

There are probably ways of safely handling this limited visibility situation, but it is not immediately obvious to me how. So I have not reported the closure of this crosswalk. It is a low volume crosswalk, I believe. Any detour for walkers is an issue, and this one requires a detour of a block to the east or west, because both the east crosswalk and the west crosswalk are closed.

While it is true that this crosswalk closure is no absolutely necessary, it is also true that it would take some sort of traffic control at this location to make it safe for walkers.

photo of N St approaching 14th St, poor visibility
N St approaching 14th St, poor visibility
photo of closed crosswalk over N St at 14th St, east
closed crosswalk over N St at 14th St, east leg, northeast corner
photo of crosswalk closed over N St at 14th St, east, southeast corner
crosswalk closed over N St at 14th St, east leg, southeast corner

SacATC meeting January 18

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

The Sacramento Active Transportation Commission (SacATC) will meet on Thursday, January 18, at 5:30PM. This meeting will be at Historic City Hall, hearing room 2nd floor, though it usually meets in council chambers in new city hall. You can watch in person or online via https://meetings.cityofsacramento.org. You can comment via the eComment function on the meetings page, and in person. eComments are placed in the meeting record, but if you want to be heard, you must attend. Apparently Zoom is no longer available.

Agenda

Commission Staff Report (Oral Report)

Consent Calendar

  1. Approval of Active Transportation Commission Meeting Minutes
  2. Active Transportation Commission Log

Discussion Calendar

  1. Selection of Chair and Vice Chair for Calendar Year 2024
  2. Draft Work Zone and Event Detour Policy
  3. Log Item Report Back: Sacramento’s Alleys

Commissioner Comments – Ideas and Questions

Public Comments-Matters Not on the Agenda

Work Zone

The most important agenda item is 4, Draft Work Zone and Event Detour Policy. I have several prior posts on this. Please read if you want to make comments. Though there could be a number of improvements to the policy, it is overall very good, and far, far better than anything that exists today. The two critical improvements are that the policy must address PROWAG (Public Right of Way Accessibility Guidelines), which are now the law of the land (though not yet enforceable until adopted by US DOT and US DOJ), and that there must be monitoring of all projects that are more than one day duration. The city has claimed that they have contractors (not the construction companies, but separate compliance contractors) monitoring at least once, but clearly that is not happening, as there are violations of ADA on nearly every construction project, and corrections are either slow to occur or never occur.

A report on alleys is also on the agenda.

SacCity work zones webinar January 24

Dan Allison1 Comment

The City of Sacramento has scheduled a webinar on the Draft Criteria and Guidance to Accommodate Active Transportation in Work Zones and at Events, or work zone policy, for Wednesday, January 24, 6:00-7:00PM. Registration for the Zoom session is available at https://cityofsacramento-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrcOqtrj0pH91Si2dEU-2R-fdFh_bMU-FT#/registration.

More information is available on the Work Zone and Event Detour Policy Update page.

I attended the Work Zone and Event Detour Policy Roundtable on January 9, with city staff and various stakeholders. All present agreed that current practice was unacceptable. Two companies that provide construction signing for projects talked about the challenges, including signs and barricades being placed and then moved by the public. I pointed to the two most important issues not addressed in the draft policy: 1) the policy must be explicit about requirements in PROWAG, and 2) the policy is meaningless if there is no monitoring. A number of people had anecdotes about projects that failed to offer accommodation for walkers and bicyclists, in addition to the hundreds of 311 reports that I have filed.

Posts related to the work zone guidelines are linked via category ‘Work Zones‘ within City of Sacramento category. Posts about construction project issues, previous to and after the release of the draft guidelines, of which there are a huge number, are linked via tag ‘construction zone‘ within Active Transportation category.

SacCity work zone problems on Broadway

Dan AllisonLeave a comment

Posts related to the work zone guidelines are linked via category ‘Work Zones‘ within City of Sacramento category. Posts about construction project issues, previous to and after the release of the draft guidelines, of which there are a huge number, are linked via tag ‘construction zone‘ within Active Transportation category.

I walked a long section of Broadway today, and came across two construction projects that close sidewalks without proper and safe signing and barricades.

‘Dental Clinic Remodel’

I put this one in quotes because it is a building that has been abandoned for years, but is apparently now under construction. Construction for this half-block building on the north side of Broadway between 23rd and 22nd Streets has closed sidewalks on both 23rd and 22nd. For 23rd, there is some signing, but also a non-detectable chainlink fence and trips hazard folding barricade. As with many other construction projects, a sign on hand, the bicycle/pedestrian detour sign (MUTCD M4-9a), was used though it is not required or appropriate. The sidewalk closed ahead cross here (MUTCD R9-11) is a valid sign, but the wrong location. The sidewalk is closed HERE, not ahead, so the correct sign is sidewalk closed cross here (MUTCD R9-11a).

photo of work zone violation at Broadway and 23rd St, wrong sign, non-detectable barricade
work zone violation at Broadway and 23rd St, wrong sign, non-detectable barricade

At the corner of Broadway and 22nd Street, there is no sign at all, and the same non-detectable chainlink fence used as a barricade.

photo of work zone violation at Broadway and 22nd St, no sign and non-detectable barricade
work zone violation at Broadway and 22nd St, no sign, non-detectable barricade

I did not check on the north side of these sidewalk closures, but I would assume the signing and detectability is the same or worse.

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