DALLAS — In life, we learn to adjust.
Melody Townsel has mastered adapting every day.
“I had a car wreck back in 2006, and I had a lot of damage from the waist down,” said Townsel, a Dallas resident.
Townsel is not paralyzed, but has damaged tissue. Her injuries sometimes confine her to a mobilized scooter. While she navigates one challenge, another has risen.
“The sidewalks, where to start? It’s nothing but a problem,” said Townsel.
She lives in the city’s Cedars neighborhood, in which getting around has turned into quite an obstacle.
“The sidewalks are too small. They are too narrow. They are blocked by utility closets. They are blocked by telephone poles,” said Townsel.
She sometimes has to ride in the street and even bought a ramp van.
“I don’t think it’s brain surgery, man. It’s enraging, right?” said Townsel. “Literally, you would endanger your life in the Cedars to try to walk any of those areas, certainly let alone roll to those areas whether it be a wheelchair or stroller.”
Townsel filed a 311 complaint just as her neighbor, Ken Duble, did after noticing a new development building a sidewalk with a street sign right in the middle.
“They’re not really paying attention to the placement of the signs. They’re just leaving them where they are, and they’re pouring concrete around them,” said Duble, another Cedars neighborhood resident.
Now that residents have brought the issue of the signs and the sidewalks to the forefront, the big question is who is responsible.
The realtor for the development property on Browder Street and McKee Street, Kadarren Walker, told WFAA the sign was already there with no full sidewalk. Walker said the City of Dallas required the developer to build a sidewalk.
After contacting the City of Dallas, they sent Public Works to the site. The city said they have now instructed the crews to move the sign.
Still, Townsel pointed out that that is just one of many blocks in the sidewalks.
“This is not a, like, an occasional thing. It’s the 'reg' in the Cedars,” said Townsel. “I pay taxes and they’re not insignificant taxes in Dallas. As a homeowner and a condo owner, I don’t get my value.”
Instead, Townsel said she gets inconvenience.