Neglected D.C. Sidewalks Pose Threat To Seniors: Report

The District's population is aging — and if seniors to remain in their homes, the city needs to ensure the right infrastructure is in place.

"A poorly maintained sidewalk is a tremendous barrier to a senior who is fearful of tripping and falling," says Cheryl Cort, policy director at the Coalition for Smarter Growth. The group has come out with a new 76-page report detailing what the District needs to do to help create what she calls “age-friendly environments.”

"Happily in the last budget, this was funded and we think that is a terrific move," Cort says. "The question is, are we going to continue to fund these sidewalk repairs so that in the future we don’t have these sorts of backlogs?"

The report states: "For D.C. to be truly age-friendly there is still work to be done to maintain sidewalks, fill sidewalk gaps, improve data collection and reporting, and provide appropriate public amenities."

Additionally, according to the report, only 31 percent of D.C. Metrobus stops are fully accessible to people with disabilities. Only 20 cabs are wheelchair accessible — less than 1 percent of the entire fleet —  although more are coming on line thanks to an agreement between Metro and the D.C. Taxicab Commission.

Four of the 12 pedestrians killed in D.C. in 2013 were over the age of 65.

"The city has started to do streetscape improvements. When they reconstruct roadways and create curb extensions, they are actually shortening the distance that a pedestrian is exposed to the street," Cort says. "That is a very positive development."