85 steps are difficult
Cross the overpass, don’t let the elderly look at the bridge and sigh
On June 7, our newspaper received an email from an old man who lives in Huilongguan.
The old man said in the email that with the widening of the farm bridge in the northern suburbs, Huilongguan West Street is no longer blocked, but the traffic lights in front of the house have been removed. Pedestrians can only cross the street bridge when crossing the road, but the more than 80 steps are really people. Frustrated, he suggested that the overpass should be installed with elevators as soon as possible.
The reporter's investigation found that this is not just the voice of an old man. Sorting out similar requests received by the 12345 hotline, there have been more than 70 requests since January this year, involving many overpasses in the city.
During the interview, the old people said that they are not opposed to the removal of traffic lights, but that the current way of travel is particularly unfriendly to the elderly.
■ Witness "This brain sweat is painful"
At noon on June 8, the dazzling sun made the ground hot.
There is a lot of traffic on Huilongguan West Street in Changping District, and the traffic jams of previous years are no longer there.
As early as 2019, the Beijiao Farm Bridge on the west side of the street was doubled, the traffic lights on the street were also removed, and the traffic flowed unimpeded.
Since then, pedestrians can only rely on the overpass to cross the road.
Under the scorching sun, the 85-year-old Uncle Zhang was dragging the trolley for grocery shopping. He could be regarded as climbing up the bridge. He saw sweat on his forehead. The old man held the bridge railing with one hand and his knees with one hand, panting.
After the reporter handed over the tissue, the old man wiped his sweat and opened the chat box, "Young man, have you ever counted the steps on this bridge? Once you go up and down, there are a total of 85 steps. My waist is not good, and it hurts when I climb one step. It hurts." The old man said that there are many residents in the north of the road. There are many supermarkets in the south of the road, such as Yonghui Supermarket and Dazhong Electrical Appliances. There are also stops for seven or eight bus lines, which are also necessary to go to the subway Longze Station. Road, so this flyover is very important to them.
But every time he came back from buying vegetables from Lunan, pulling a trolley full of dangdang cars to climb the sky bridge became the most embarrassing thing for him.
While talking to the old man, there was a noise from the child under the bridge.
It turned out that a four- to five-year-old child was unwilling to climb the bridge. He had to let his grandmother hold him. The grandmother sighed and said, "Let's race, see who is fast." This "lied" the child to get on the bridge.
Standing on the overpass and looking westward, an old man pointed to the isolation belt in the middle of the road and said that about a hundred meters west from the bridge, there was a pedestrian crossing line, and the road was revoked after reconstruction.
For a long time after that, many elderly people were unable to climb the overpass, so they looked for gaps in the isolation belt to cross the road. It was dangerous to drill around, but it was also helpless.
Later, the gaps were blocked one by one, and crossing the street bridge became their only choice.
"The road reconstruction is right. There is no traffic jam. Everyone benefits. But in addition to caring for cars, you also have to be considerate of people. Should there be an elevator in this overpass?"
Afterwards, the reporter went to check the position of the original pedestrian crossing line. A large sign "No Override" was hung on the isolation belt in the middle of the road.
But every few minutes, there will be pedestrians sticking this sign over the railing and crossing the road.
A lady who jumped over the railing said that a few days ago, she had carried an old man who was nearly 90 years old across the road with her back because she could not climb the overpass. The old man also wanted to climb over the railing, but the leg could not reach that high, and one leg was stuck in it. On the railing, but fortunately she was saved.
From the overpass to the west, I couldn’t find a place to cross the road normally. The reporter went east from the overpass. After about 330 meters, I finally found the crossroad. There are crosswalks and traffic lights here, but the old people say it’s too detour. Going down is almost the same as climbing a bridge.
After standing for 10 minutes at this intersection, the reporter also discovered a new problem. The time for pedestrians to pass the traffic light from north to south at this intersection is about 40 seconds. For such a wide intersection with 6 motorized lanes up and down, 40 seconds is not enough for elderly people with poor legs and feet. There are no safety islands in the middle of the road or traffic lights for the second crossing. The hard detour in exchange for it is still not absolutely safe.
■ Looking back, the elevator hasn't opened after a year and a half
From January of this year to the present, the 12345 hotline has reflected more than 70 requests for the overpass. The reporter found that the problems can be roughly divided into two categories: one is that the overpass is not equipped with an elevator, and the other is that the elevator does not open even though there is an elevator.
In addition to Huilongguan West Street, the overpass at Sakura Garden East Street in Chaoyang District has also been mentioned many times.
As early as the end of 2019, when an overpass was built in front of the Sakura Garden East Street University of Chinese Medicine, it was first criticized by residents for its low utilization rate because the overpass was close to the pedestrian crossing construction.
Since then, it has been questioned again because of the addition of an elevator but it is still unavailable.
The reporter saw at the scene yesterday that the pedestrian crossing line under the bridge was still there, but it was blocked by the isolation railing.
The method of blocking the road did not allow everyone to "commit" to the bridge. Some elderly people who struggled to get on and off the bridge still chose to climb the relatively low green belt, stepped over the fence of the green belt, and stepped on a dirt road on the green space.
During the interview, an old man hoped that the problem of the elderly looking at the bridge and sighing would attract the attention of relevant departments. This is no longer just a question of "people letting cars" or "cars letting people". The refined urban governance does require rules and management. However, he did not approve of the practice of forcibly "forcing" people onto the bridge under the premise of lack of humane measures.
The reporter recently learned that the construction unit of the East Street Crossing Overpass at Sakura Garden said that the elevator equipment of the overpass is currently in good condition and the acceptance of relevant materials has been completed. Now only the on-site acceptance is the link, and the elevator opening is just around the corner.
Regarding the issue of the overpass on Huilongguan West Street, the Changping District Urban Management Committee stated in response to the public that the installation of elevators on the overpass has been included in this year's plan.
Our reporter Jing Yiming