A long and winding path: City Council sticks with original plan for Dog Beach accessibility

By Bob Seidenberg

Evanston City Council members decided Monday to stick with the original design put forward by staff to provide wheelchair access to the Dog Beach, despite beach users advocating for a shorter, more direct route than the one proposed.

With Mayor Daniel Biss breaking a 4-4 tie after two-hour debate, council voted to direct staff to rebid the original nearly $700,000 design, incorporating “any appropriate modifications to reduce costs, shorten the ramp, and/or improve usability, and to develop a parking solution” in a new plan.

Along with the mayor, voting in support were Council Members Melissa Wynne (3rd Ward), Jonathan Nieuwsma (4th), Eleanor Revelle (7th) and Devon Reid (8th).

Voting against were Clare Kelly (1st), Bobby Burns (5th), Tom Suffredin (6th) and Juan Geracaris (9th).

Krissie Harris (2nd), participating offline, did not vote on the issue.

City Council previously tabled a vote on the contract at its July 8 meeting, responding to a request from Burns to consider other alternatives.

Staff had previously recommended approval of a nearly $700,000 contract with John Keno & Company to erect an accessible wooden and concrete walkway to run 300 feet from the Clark Street Beach restrooms to the Dog Beach, winding through a small dune-like area and using only a short section of ramp on the beach itself.

The contractor declined to hold its bid any longer, taking it off the table before this week’s meeting, City Engineer Lara Biggs informed council members Monday.

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One thought on “A long and winding path: City Council sticks with original plan for Dog Beach accessibility

  1. Thanks Bob, a fair and balanced article. I honestly don’t understand how the council and mayor can hear from so many users that the current plan is not what’s BEST for them. The spirt and laws of the ADA are very clear: Make access to public facilities as short, direct and inclusive as possible.

    Handicapped parking is also a huge issue that was not considered in the early plans from SmithGroup, unless they believed that three spots far north of the dog beach was enough to cover Clarke Street Beach AND Evanston Dog Beach.

    My sister has MS and has been in a wheelchair or scooter most of her adult life, she always wants her route to any public facility to be “as short & sweet as possible.” I’m afraid the long, meandering path that was approved on July 22 just won’t work for her—as well as all those who made similar pleas at the council meeting. Including elderly residents from the Mather who use walkers, and grace our wonderful dog beach almost every day.

    It’s truly a shame that their needs are being ignored because a beautiful, yet impractical plan has been developed with little to no input from the right collection of actual users.

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