Minneapolis' Commons park was uncommonly unaccommodating

I took my 80-year-old body, with cane, on a walk to the Commons park near U.S. Bank Stadium from 5th Avenue to Park Avenue S. The winding path through the park, heading toward 4th Street, brought me to the table and bench area of this "family-friendly" park.

Imagine my surprise to find that the tables and benches were located on small loose gravel pieces. These are dangerous for people with stability problems — canes, walkers or impaired vision — and nearly impossible for wheelchair users to navigate.

To avoid that area, I decided to proceed to the exit at 4th Street. My next shock was facing four steps to the sidewalk. No ramp.

I went back on the path to the next exit and found another set of four steps down. No ramp.

I wanted to safely cross at the intersection of 4th Street and Portland Avenue S., but there was not a flat surface to the sidewalk along Portland until midblock. The greatest danger there was that the loose-stone area was so close to the sidewalk. Pieces of the crushed granite were scattered all over the sidewalk and path, making it treacherous for anyone walking — let alone for people with disabilities.

Next, I crossed to the Portland side of the park, the part closest to the stadium. This site had porous pavement of small granite pieces that seemed somewhat stable in a rubberlike base, but it's still difficult for stability when walking on it.

Also, in a short period of time, I observed nine individuals crossing from one part of the park to the other in midblock across Portland, a major one-way street. If that's legal, why aren't pedestrian-crossing signs put up to caution pedestrians and drivers?

One more thing. What happened regarding my ongoing request of over two years to Jim Ramnaraine, Hennepin County Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, to add handicap seating at our Hennepin County Government Center service-center waiting area? As I've explained to him, the waiting-room chairs are too low, the fronts of seats put knees too high and the arms are at the end of long benches only. There are benches that could be switched out from the District Court self-help center to the service center, so no expense would be involved in correcting the problem. Two years is a long time to "look into it."

As we all know, the fastest-growing segment of the population is senior citizens. The fastest-growing surgical procedure is joint replacement. The current benches in the service center waiting room aren't handicap usable.

Most puzzling of all is that the courthouse and the park are at most a block away from where the people approving these things have their offices. I wish they would walk over to the "family-friendly" park and verify that it can be safely enjoyed by all. I wish they would visit the service center. It's an election year. Our votes count.