GOOD PROJECTS take bad turns when their designers forget about the people who will use them.

This is apparent in my workday neighborhood, the state office complex in Baltimore, where the Department of General Services and the Maryland Transit Administration are putting the finishing touches on a generally successful streetscape improvement project budgeted at $977,000.

Unfortunately, the project also violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and creates a serious pedestrian hazard just waiting to cause injuries.

The designers neglected to put in the four curb cuts that would allow a wheelchair user to travel the two blocks of sidewalk along the north side of Preston Street from the subway at Eutaw Street to the light rail stop on Howard Street. (Another missing cut, across Howard Street at the light rail, probably should have been installed before the light rail opened.)

The designers did think to install decorative brickwork that follows the contour of sidewalk -- in effect, beautifying the barriers. Because they did not think about people who travel in wheelchairs -- which they are legally required to do -- people who use wheelchairs must use the street.

The designers also seemed to have forgotten that the primary purpose of sidewalks is to provide a safe surface for pedestrians. Just west of the Armory driveway, the sidewalk tilts sharply toward the street and becomes, in effect, part of the Armory's drainage system. Running water, not walking people, seems the main concern.

Recent spring rains made this section slick. Winter freezes will create an icy chute that could send people sprawling into the street. This walkway is heavily used by people switching transportation modes, by state employees walking to and from work and by residents of the area west of the office complex. It is not farfetched to think that somebody will get hurt because of this poor design.

I don't think that the people who designed this willfully disregarded the law or the need of wheelchair users for ramps and of pedestrians for safe footing. My bet is that they were busy thinking about the wrong things, such as decorative brickwork and how to use a public sidewalk to solve a drainage problem. And I bet they didn't talk to all the right people.

Even people who know ADA requirements sometimes don't think about them if they are not personally affected.

I walked the new Preston Street sidewalk many times before it hit me that there were no curb cuts. If I used wheels, I would have noticed immediately. Similarly, the street lamps in the middle of the sidewalk seem awkward to me, but since I can use my eyes, I don't know whether they would be dangerous or confusing for people who are blind. But people who use canes and dogs for mobility could advise about this. I doubt that they were asked. If asked, I'm sure they'd tell.

The agencies responsible for this project need to read the law, consult some of those who walk and wheel in this space and, without delay, fix what's wrong. That would really improve the neighborhood.Today's writer

Today's writer

Michael S. Franch, who works for a state agency in Baltimore, talks about the disability rights movement for the Maryland Humanities Council Speakers Bureau. He lives in Waverly.

City Diary provides a forum for examining issues and events in Baltimore's neighborhoods and welcomes contributions from readers.