Tulsans Hope Sidewalk Improvements Make City More Accessible

Leaders are working to make Tulsa a more accessible city to walkers and those with limited mobility, but some say it's not happening fast enough.

Tulsa city councilors are getting updates on sidewalk projects paid through the Improve Our Tulsa capital improvements package.

The city has a long list of places that need sidewalk improvements, and according to one woman, those improvements could mean the difference between a safe trip to the grocery store or a dangerous one.

Some of the problems plaguing Tulsa communities across Tulsa include poles in the middle of concrete, tripping hazards on a walkway, limited accessibility, and in some cases, no sidewalk at all.

"The issues have been brought up and we've been told, ‘lack of funding,'" said Tulsa resident, Mary Kay Salchert.

Interim Director of the Streets, Roy Teeters said, “On average about $200,000 for the arterial and $200,000 for the residential, and each year that varies, but it is somewhere between $300 or $400,000 and that doesn't really go a long ways down the list."

A list with more than 90 sidewalk projects presented at Thursday's city council meeting. Many of which effect Salchert directly.

"Every time that I step out I'm taking a risk, and it's an unknown, and we shouldn't have to have that kind of fear," she said.

A fear not just as a pedestrian, but as a person with limited mobility who's only means of transportation is a wheelchair.

"Here comes a bus, there's no sidewalk, there's no shoulder lane, going right past us right now. I have to compete with that wherever I go,” Salchert said.

She said a lack of sidewalks and walkways without ADA compliant ramps, walkways that dead end, and sidewalks that are hazardous, force pedestrians and those on wheels to make dangerous decisions.

“One block will have a handicap accessible curb to get to the end of the other block, it's not handicap accessible, so you have to turn around and go all the way back again,” said Salchert. "And usually sometimes, it means going into the street.”

A decision Salchert and her service dog are tired of having to make.

There are more than 90 locations in need of attention on the city's list; number one is putting in a sidewalk on Lewis where there isn't one.

A new sidewalk near 41st and Harvard comes in at number two.

Plans range anywhere from installing new sidewalks to minor repairs.