Requesting that a public footpath gets widened

[pmd 684]

Hi,

 

For the last year, I have been looking after my daughter. Using a pram has certainly been an eye-opener for me!

 

There is one particular section of footpath that is around 20m long but only around 20cm wide. The road is far too busy to risk going on to. I have to take a fairly annoying detour to go around this narrow footpath. (The ironic thing is that the local Rathaus is across the road from it - plus the brand new Stadthalle is only around 100m away.)

 

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience of dealing with the local Rathaus in order to get changes made in your neighbourhood? 

 

[fraufruit 40,246]

You probably won't get much help as you haven't put your location in your profile.

 

Nothing like pushing a pram around to experience what people in wheelchairs have to deal with in Germany all of their lives.

[PLS 914]

It is not usually an easy thing to get done.  The case I know personally was not with a pram or wheelchair, but someone we knew with a rolling walker (she is still around but moved now that her husband passed away). We helped her complain about it not only to the local Rathaus but had it brought up a couple of times in the city council by council members and the particular pavement (sidewalk) is still unpassable other than by one person on foot without walker, pram, wheelchair or wheeled shopping bag and that was 5 years ago. Maybe if your city isn't as broke as our city or if it is something that belongs to a regional or state authority, I wouldn't hold your breath. It doesn't hurt to ask but I would not invest a lot of time or resources in it.

[pmd 684]

Sorry, thanks fraufruit for pointing out my lack of information - I live in Troisdorf, NRW.

[Marianne013 543]

First step would be telling them, you'd be surprised how much in denial the local council can be:

 

Assuming I have the right Troisdorf:

http://www.troisdorf.de/web/de/stadt_rathaus/buergerservice/anregungen_beschwerden.htm

"Nachricht and die Stadt senden"

 

Or you can fill in this form and they promise someone semi-relevant will call you back:

http://www.troisdorf.de/web/de/stadt_rathaus/buergerservice/rueckruf_service.htm#formular

 

and see what they say.

I wouldn't get my hopes up, but on the other hand this is definitely the first step.

[pmd 684]

Thanks for the links Marianne013! Very kind of you. You have the right Troisdorf.

 

But it's true, footpaths can be so unfriendly here (lack of sunken kerbs, people letting their hedges grow too far out are other bugbears with me)..I really pity people with mobility issues.

 

Ok, I'll get the ball rolling and maybe I'll be successful.

 

Thanks again.

[RedMidge 6,499]

21 hours ago, fraufruit said:

You probably won't get much help as you haven't put your location in your profile.

 

Nothing like pushing a pram around to experience what people in wheelchairs have to deal with in Germany all of their lives.

How true!

A few years ago, I had surgery  requiring wheelchair for a week, then crutches for a couple of months.  In shops, Malls, streets, I felt I had become the Invisible woman!

AS Marianne says, try that.  You could even approach a local newspaper, and see if they are interested!

[Feierabend 1,075]

There's an extra level of complication for councils here in getting stuff like that done, in that the people who own houses along a footpath will also be stung for part of the cost of alterations, which requires consultation and approval by the local Gemeinde or whatever.

In our village all the paths were renewed a few years back. Up til then we all had easily mown wide grass verges, and a little-used road in front of the houses so no problem for the few pedestrians. Now we have a tiny grass strip in front of our fences, too narrow to mow but which sprouts weeds daily, a wide pavement where you might see someone using once an hour and which has block paving that we lucky ones have to weed, and then a metre wide grass strip along the road verge, peppered by trees and roots which is a nightmare to mow. They also took up our bit of drive whch crossed the pavement and replaced it with their standard blocks. The joy cost us several thousand euros.

Mini-rant over! I wish good faciliites for everyone but these kind of costs seem unfairly shared to me. (I think they also extend to street lighting and other stuff too.)