City staff replace pedestrian railings across Centerville
Local grandmother’s email prompts city to evaluated its railings.
Centerville City Council member Mark Engert says it was an email that kicked off a comprehensive project to upgrade pedestrian railing across the city.
“A citizen sent me a letter. She was concerned about the rails in her neighborhood. She likes to walk with her grandson, and she was worried the little boy could potentially walk right underneath the railing and into a culvert,” Engert said.
So Engert jumped in his car and headed to South Village Drive to take a look himself.
“I drove by and thought, ‘That’s a problem,’” he said.
Engert brought it up to his colleagues on City Council during the next public work session. Public Works and Engineering staff listened to the discussion and sent their own crews to check out the railings that protect pedestrians from winding up in a culvert or ditch.
Those crews, too, thought the railing could be safer, especially for children. They knew a permanent fix could take several weeks, so within 48 hours, crews had installed additional temporary railings to prevent the sort of concerns the grandmother raised.
Crews then got to work assessing all pedestrian rails across the city.
Of the 18 railings that exist in Centerville, engineering staff members determined at least half were outdated or damaged; many would not meet current building code standards. That was a result of many railings having been installed several decades before.
“Safety is our top priority,” Staff Engineer Taylor Schindler said. “The big problem was the gaps between rails were so large a child could fall through. These are often spots right next to drainage ways. We immediately identified nine railings that needed to be replaced right away.”
The problem and solutions were presented at another work session, and City Council authorized upgrading the rails at a cost of $84,000. The project was taken out for bid and L.J. DeWeese was selected as contractor for the project. Ultimately, the city upgraded 353 feet of railing and installed metal picket railing, which is the safest and most practical design.
The upgraded rails are along South Village Drive, Far Hills Avenue, West Claridge Drive, East Claridge Drive, North Bellingham Drive, South Bellingham Drive, West Lodewood Drive, East Lodewood Drive and Waterford Drive. The longest railing along Far Hills Avenue was increased from a length of 54 feet to 70 feet to provide extra safety on the wings of the rail.
Schindler says Centerville strives toward exceptional service every day with an emphasis on safety.
“Everyone is working to make sure this community and all of its streets, infrastructure and communities are as safe as possible. Replacing outdated railings was one step in this ongoing process. We cannot be everywhere in the city, so citizens help us keep an eye on everything,” Schindler said.
Schindler says the city plans to work through upgrading the remaining railings in the city for the sake of a consistent design. She is confident the railings are much safer as a result of the upgrade.
“This is how local government should work. Thank God we live in a community that could react quickly and our residents provide us with the resources to fix issues like this,” Engert said.
Engert says he reached out to the grandmother who sent him the initial email. She was pleased her concern was taken seriously.