Today, I was out running errands around 13th & Lewis, when I saw a man in a electric wheelchair. He was heading south on Lewis, crossing the street next to the BA. When he got across the street, I saw that he became stuck. In addition to the sidewalks being tiny and the traffic horrible, there is a utility pole stuck dead in the middle of the sidewalk. He was trying to maneuver around the pole, but didn't appear to have the room to do so. How ill-conceived can you be--putting a pole in the middle of a sidewalk? Its as though the city believes the purpose of sidewalks is simply to provide a little buffer between the moving cars and the parked cars in the surface lot.
I know that Tulsa is not pedestrian friendly. But there are times when I think that the city should truly be ashamed. Obviously, it is expensive to widen sidewalks and bury utility lines. But in the long run it may prove cheaper than a class-action lawsuit that is bound to happen one of these days.