Editor’s note: A few years back, I was coming
out of a restaurant after a nice birthday dinner, heading down the
street to start the second half of my celebration. As I passed a
pit where at tree had been planted in the sidewalk, my rear wheel
fell into the hole. I fell into the tree, breaking my shoulder. The
following story has a better ending.(TB)
Here is a heads up,
and sticks down, for people trying to get around with canes and
dog guides. In some locations around town, trees have been planted
in the middle of the sidewalk.
Sections of pavement
have been removed to accommodate some of these trees. In some cases,
this creates a predicament where there are open pits around the
trees. As a result, the dirt
levels are not always level with the sidewalk.
Specifically, this happened
just off the corner of 50th and Bryant
Avenue South in Minneapolis. On Sunday, May 27, a blind woman from
Richfield fell into one of these pits where the dirt was four to
five inches below the sidewalk. She skinned her elbows, but thankfully,
was not seriously injured!
She remarked, “Adding
trees to our urban forest has many benefits. However, creating
traps in sidewalks seems to go beyond common sense, not to mention
potential for personal injury liability claims, and it also crosses
a line with regards to trust in public safety.”
As a result of this
incident, a report was e-mailed to the appropriate City Council
Member, along with a request to have these pits covered with grates
that would be even with the sidewalk. This request was then forwarded
to the “sidewalk people” for
the City who have taken measures towards resolving this issue.
The response was quick. Within two days of receiving the complaint,
dirt was filled in around these trees to a height apparently even with
the sidewalk.
Now, the pit that Colleen fell into appears to be level with the sidewalk,
but the surface of the dirt is bumpy and uneven, and there is still
potential for injury.
According to a City representative, property owners along that section
of sidewalk are responsible for those pits. The City will be notifying
them that metal grates need to be purchased and installed in order
to be compliant with City Code.
The up side to this issue is that the initial response from the City
to this report was very quick. A half-dozen people gathered forces
to take care of providing safety measures within a day of hearing of
the incident.
Minneapolis is known to have a government that takes pride in keeping
the City a nice place to live, and public safety is at the top of their
list of priorities.
Going forward, keep
in mind that this was one instance of trees planted along the curb
in a sidewalk where pitfalls were discovered and remedied. There
may be others like it out there as well. So, please do not hesitate
to report safety issues. Beware—and
take good care! ![]()
