A blind man having a hard time considering that the death of his precious guide dog has actually knocked council chiefs for the state of ‘risky’ pavements in his town centre. Andy Terry, who is signed up blind, says the state of the pavements in Leek are “inappropriate” for handicapped individuals.
He says he has actually had problems browsing the pavements with his walking stick, with inaccurate tactile pavement pieces set up and an absence of indication in appropriate locations. Since his guide dog passed away from cancer on New Year’s Day, Andy has entirely depended on his walking stick to browse the streets.
He said: “The pavements remain in a treacherous state – even worse even than those I left in Stoke – and without the help of my dog I am discovering it really tough to negotiate them. In a wheelchair I believe it would be difficult, specifically with the almost universal usage of pavements for parking.
“The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and the Guide Dogs Association have severe bookings about ‘shared areas’ – and the one around the momument (the Nicholson War Memorial) is no exception.
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“The tactile paving meant for aesthetically impaired individuals appears to have actually been laid for ornamental result instead of for any energy. Not just is it tough to establish where the pavement ends and the roadway starts, however it is practically difficult to evaluate from where the traffic is coming and who has right-of-way.
“The sloped kerb stones utilized around the monolith and Derby Street are dangerous, especially for aesthetically impaired individuals, due to really poor contrast in between pavement and roadway – worsened by the sloping nature of the kerbs.
“The shared locations around the monolith and Derby Street have really haphazard assistance tactiles that do not appear to work as such. Their continuity is often broken up by utility access panels.
“This shouldn’t be necessary, as is shown by the occasional times when the access panels have been correctly integrated with the tactile slabs, as the government guidelines suggest.
“I also notice that the major junctions in Leek have no filtering provision for pedestrians, which is strange for a town that seems to encourage and rely on pedestrian traffic.
“Crossing the shared area is particularly difficult, since there is no indication for pedestrians of where oncoming traffic is coming from. It’s very much a gamble. At the Buxton Road junction and St Edward Street, there is no pedestrian filtering.”
Mr Terry said tactile pavings were damaged in many locations, causing a danger to people with visual impairment.
He said: “By far the commonest tactiles are the blister tactiles – and Leek is no exception. These indicate to visually impaired people there is a dropped kerb and help wheelchair users to cross safely.
“The government guidelines call for consistency, but as just one example shows, walking up Ball Haye Street from the monument, you encounter dropped kerbs with no tactile warning at the Regent Street and Queen Street junctions.
“There are none through Cross Street, nor on the Ashbourne Road, yet at the end of Grosvenor Street (hardly a thoroughfare) there are, admittedly damaged, blister tactiles. A lack of consistency is almost as bad as nothing at all.”
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport David Williams said: “Pedestrian safety is an absolute priority to us; therefore we are grateful to anyone who has concerns that takes the time to contact us and report defects via the My Staffs app or website.
“We want everyone to feel and be safe on our streets. We do routinely inspect our footways, particularly in town centres, and fix potential dangerous defects as soon as possible especially if we are notified or discover them when surveying locations.
“With regard to pedestrian crossings, they are located in busier areas or in the vicinity of schools or other amenities. If communities feel there is a need for one to be installed they should call their regional county councillor for factor to consider.”
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