ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – The ability to choose where to go and what to do is closely tied to happiness and well-being. Residents at Corinthian Senior Living say the sidewalks surrounding the property on Lemay Ferry Road are preventing them from enjoying their freedom, as they’re unable to safely travel on them.
Almost 10 years ago Tony Berding, was struck by a car while trying to navigate the sidewalks. He lost a friend five years ago along a dangerous section.
“We know he got killed, out there in front of the building,” Berding said.
Uneven surfaces, narrow walkways, street poles, and sidewalk breaks all act as barriers to independent travel for the residents in wheelchairs – noncompliant with ADA standards.
Linda Hinkle, a resident for over 15 years, says she has to time it out perfectly and drive into the road at certain points of the sidewalk to get around, with cars speeding past.
“Our lives here, if we don’t have the independence we need on a daily basis, we have to depend on people all of the time, which takes away from our independence, which is our highlight of our day, to be as independent as possible,” she said. “So, it’s very emotional when you have to depend on someone to get you somewhere safe.”
The Missouri Department of Transportation is in the planning phase for Missouri Route 267 Sidewalk/ADA Improvements and says this section is set for upgrades in March 2025. Even with these plans in progress, the residents feel like they’ve been jumping through paperwork hoops in an attempt to speed up the project and improve their quality of life for over a decade.
“Disabled person or not, we can advocate for ourselves, and we’ve been fighting for this for a long, long time. Just to allow us to go to a restaurant on our own or the store on our own and just be our own human being,” Hinkle said.
High delivery fees, the need for aides, and day-long trips using Call-A-Ride are the only other options for some of these residents.
“I think if we had more normal sidewalks, we can go almost anywhere those sidewalks will lead us. We’ll go shopping on our own for our daily needs, we can go grocery shopping, we can go visit friends and just be out in the community like everyone else independently on our own and supporting our own,” Hinkle said.
According to research published in the National Library of Medicine, one of the five categories of social determinants of health is based on neighborhood and environment – neighborhood walkability, environmental conditions, and affordable, safe, convenient transportation.
The unfortunate circumstances haven’t stopped residents from smiling, laughing, and having a good attitude about life.
“Maybe if someone could do something about it, that would make me happy,” Berding said.
