REPORT-SF-941XX

From: Richard Skaff
To: Kevin Jensen ; Newsom, Gavin ; Board of Supervisors ; edwin_M_Lee@sfdpw.org
Cc: Alberto Gonzalez ; Steve Coony ; frederickd.isler@fhwa.dot.gov ; Bobo, Karen ; Jose.Caedo@sfgov.org ; Marsha Mazz ; Janet Blizard
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2005 12:54 PM
Subject: Fw: Complaint-San Francisco Department of Public Works-Non-Complying Construction Barricades

1/10/05


Mr. Edwin M. Lee, Director
San Francisco Department of Public Works
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco, Ca. 94103

Mr. Lee,


I have attached emails to this email I am now sending you because I have yet to receive a response from the San Francisco Department of Public Works about the complaints I have filed with your department. Just last week, I was in the City and went past the Franklin/Clay intersection and found that nothing had changed, even though I first informed your department about the violations at this site last year on 5/14/04, almost 8 months ago!. 2 blocks of Clay Street and the intersection of Clay at Franklin Streets were completely resurfaced after a P.G.&E. utility undergrounding project was completed, triggering the installation of curb ramps in the "remodeled" intersections. Two curb returns in the Clay/Franklin intersection still don't have the required curb ramps that should have been installed during that project! Additionally, I have heard nothing from your department with regard to my complaint about the use of DPW manufactured bucket/chain barricades being used at various locations around the City. Are those barricades that don't comply with the Department's Barricade Order still being used and if so, why?

Although you may not be aware of California regulations that require access violations must be corrected within 90 days of determining their validity, that doesn't excuse your department's non-responsiveness to my complaints and correction of the violations.

If I don't hear from you or your staff by the end of this week with the outcome of your department's investigation of ALL of my complaints and a schedule for correction of the violations that I have brought to your department's attention, I will be forced to take more drastic and aggressive action. It is quite clear that there are some bureau chiefs within your department who are either uninterested or unwilling to assure that their bureau is in compliance with state and federal access codes/regulations or even the Department's own Orders. Could this be because there is no clear direction from their Director on the issue of accessibility for persons with disabilities?

Richard Skaff
303 Ashton Lane
Mill Valley, Ca. 94941
Voice & Fax: 415-389-8628
Mobile: 415-497-1091
Email: rmskaff@comcast.net

=============
11/07/04
Mr. Ed Lee, Director
San Francisco Department of Public WorksCity Hall
San Francisco, Ca. 940102
SUBJECT: VARIOUS ACCESS VIOLATIONS - PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY - NON-COMPLYING CONSTRUCTION BARRICADE SYSTEMS
Mr. Lee,
The attached photos describe the numerous access violations by P.G. & E and their subcontractors on Haight Street last week. The a frame "barricades" being used certainly wouldn't protect anyone, especially a blind/low visioned pedestrian. The second set of photos visually describes the chaos on the sidewalk on Page Street at the Urban School construction project. The project supervisor representing Plant Construction told me that the City inspector (sidewalk or DBI?) had been by the site just days prior and hadn't been concerned. In June, I had forwarded photos of a previous barricade violation by P.G.&E. at the same location in front of the San Francisco Urban School site. I will re-send those if requested. The P.G.&E. sub-contractor, Annuzi, has had ongoing violations in most of their projects throughout the City and even when fined, don't seem to take this issue seriously. None of the barricades at either project appeared to comply with the San Francisco Department of Public Works Barricade Order even though the DPW ADA Coordinator has apparently provided training to P.G.& E. staff and to DPW sidewalk inspectors. I will be sending three emails on the same complaints due to the number of digital photos being included.
Richard Skaff
-------------August 2004--------
8/7/04

Mr. Kevin Jensen, ADA/Disability Access Coordinator
San Francisco Department of Public Works
Mr. Jensen,

The attached pictures visually describe three construction sites located on the North sidewalk of McAllister Street in San Francisco. The first and second show the same excavation on the North sidewalk on McAllister Street in front of Hasting Law School at an accessible parking space just East of Hyde Street (which, of course, makes the accessible parking space unusable by many individuals). The second two photos show two excavation sites, one on the West sidewalk on Hyde Street and the second, at the corner of Hyde Street and McAllister Street. All three construction sites have multiple sheets of plywood laying presumably laying over an excavation. None of the plywood sheets have "cut-back" to assure that the plywood sheet edges don't create a tripping hazard. Presently, all three sites don't comply with either State or federal access code/regulatory requirements and don't comply with the Department of Public Works own Construction Barricade Order and all three sites are heavily traveled by pedestrians, including those who are blind or other types of disabilities.

Please inform me, at your earliest convenience, when DPW sidewalk inspectors will be investigating these three sites and, if the sites are violations as I have suggested, what DPW will do to have the violations corrected. I would also like to know if DPW will be holding the contractor or City department responsible for these violations and what that will entail.

Additionally, the following is a description of an additional public right-of-way complaint that I am formally filing with your office. Although I don't have photos or specific addresses of the sites in question, they will be easily found. While using the North side of Market Street yesterday, between McAllister Street and Grant Street, I found two locations with the same "barricade" being used. It can be described as a number of plastic buckets filled with cement with a plastic pipe imbedded vertically in the concrete-filled buckets, holding three levels of horizontally strung yellow chain between the vertical pipes, similar to the one apparently DPW Operations installed at the United Nations Plaza fountain near City Hall. Although I have contacted Mohammed Nuru-Deputy Director of DPW Operations and informed him that this "barricade" design does not meet the intent of local, state or federal barricade guidelines and doesn't meet either the intent or function of the design described in the U.S. Access Board's Pedestrian Right-of-Way Access Committee's Guidelines, he has apparently continued to allow their use. In fact, although I have called and left messages for him about this issue, he has only returned my original call but has never returned any of my other calls about this issue. The reason for my repeated calls to Mr. Nuru were due to his lack of response to me and lack of action in removing/replacing the non-complying barricade system at the U.N. Fountain (his apparent lack of interest in responding to complaints such as those described in this email is not acceptable). Again, I want to reiterate that the barricade system I have described in this email doesn't even meet the requirements in the SF Department of Public Works Barricade Order which Mr. Nuru has known about since his appointment as Deputy Director!

Within the next thirty days, please inform me as to the outcome of DPW's investigation of my complaints and, based on the outcome of that investigation, what DPW staff have done to correct the violations. Additionally, I want to be informed as to what efforts are being made by DPW and the City to assure that similar violations will be resolved more effectively in the future and not be allowed to occur on such a frequent and regular basis. I'm sure one solution will have to be the addition of more street inspectors (and utility inspectors) with ongoing training and auditing to assure their knowledge and competency. Please inform me if that solution is being considered and if so, when will the additional inspection staff be available?

Thank you.

Richard Skaff

---------------------May 2004--------
5/14/04

Mr. Kevin Jensen, ADA/Disability Access Coordinator
San Francisco Department of Public Works
30 Van Ness Avenue, 5th floor
San Francisco, Ca. 94102

Mr. Jensen,

The attached photos visually describe the numerous non-complying barricades being used around the City by contractors and utility companies like P.G.&E. I will send you multiple emails with attachments because there are so many photos. When I stopped and talked to one of the project supervisors on Oak Street between Stanyan and Divisidero, he informed me that the inspector had been to the site that morning and said everything was fine. The supervisor was quite concerned that he was getting different messages about what the City required as an appropriate design for a construction barricade.

Additionally, at the intersection of Franklin and Clay, another location where I believe a utility did undergrounding, part of the work within the public right-of-way (sidewalk) triggered the installation of a curb ramp, which was never installed. It's obvious by the markings on the sidewalk, that someone knew about the requirement to install a curb ramp because there are lines depicting the location of the required installation of a curb ramp on the South East corner of Franklin at Clay.

It's obvious to me that there is a real problem with how DPW communicates what it expects from utilities and contractors with regard to safe and accessible barricade systems and the installation of curb ramps in utility projects. At your earliest convenience, please inform me as to what DPW will do in the very near future to correct the problem of inadequate, incorrect and inconsistent (or no) information on this subject. I would also like to hear from you with regard to what DPW requires as far as construction plans for projects proposed by utilities. From every indication I have seen, detailed (including access triggered by the project) approved project plans which also include proposed barricade design and necessary curb ramp installations, both triggered by the project, are none existent. I hope that I'm wrong on that assumption.

Thanks.

Richard Skaff