­­­­­­Many months ago I submitted a comment to Kroger via their website asking them to make a safer, more accessible path between their store at the corner of Dorothy Lane and Woodman and the Route 12 bus stop to the east. Currently, one must walk either through a drainage field, behind some bushes in the entrance for cars or climb over a mound. There is no way to get to or from this stop safely and easily walking, let alone pushing a cart or in a wheelchair.

Kroger was very good about responding to my email quickly and the manager of that Kroger location, Jeff Tigner, sent me emails explaining what was happening in response to my request. Finally, in his most recent email on February 11, 2009, he writes:­

I wanted to touch base with you regarding your sidewalk concern here at the Dorothy Lane Kroger. We are in the process of getting approval from the Kettering city council for the construction of a new fuel center on the east side of our store — that’s the Woodman Road side. Part of the construction would involve a sidewalk being built across the drainage ditch around the bus stop.

All signs are pointing to the city approving our zoning request by the first part of March. If this happens then construction should begin in the spring and should be completed by the fall. So hopefully by the end of the year we will have everything built and ready to go…

Yay! Please respond to my discussion topic, “What are your grocery store access problems?”. I am very encouraged by this victory and would like to ask for more changes from more grocery stores, grade them on the availability and quality of car-free access they offer after they’ve had some time to respond to our requests and send out a press release with all of their grades and an explanation.