The Briefcase
Disability Rights Advocates' Semi-Annual Newsletter
Disability Rights Advocates' Semi-Annual Newsletter
Access is the lynchpin of societal integration for people with disabilities. Sidewalks and other pedestrian rights of way allow individuals with mobility and vision disabilities to get around safely and be able to participate in work, school and other social activities. Lack of sidewalk access is a major cause of isolation and exclusion from the basic opportunities to participate in economic and social life. Despite decades of state and federal civil rights laws, many cities and public entities have ignored these essential access requirements and continue to build and maintain sidewalks without the basic features needed to create accessibility for people with disabilities.
Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) works to improve access for people with disabilities through high-impact litigation, research and public education.
Accessibility ensures that all pedestrian rights of way (sidewalks, crosswalks, intersections and other pedestrian paths of travel) are readily usable by people with disabilities. To be accessible to a range of pedestrians, sidewalks require different features for different disabilities. People with limited vision depend on environmental cues such as texture changes that can be detected using a cane. Individuals with low vision may also rely on color contrast as a navigational aid. Both of these features are incorporated into what are known as detectable warnings which are yellow, truncated domes. The access needs of people with mobility disabilities center around being able to navigate changes in sidewalk height and surface shifts (such as curb ramps) and the repair of broken or displaced sidewalk sections, as well as ensuring enough space for wheelchairs to navigate.
Access needs are not solely limited to people with disabilities. Many people benefit from accessible or universal design. At intersections, curb ramps increase access for people with baby strollers, crutches, walkers, wheeled luggage and delivery carts, which improves overall pedestrian safety and foot traffic flow.
Both federal and state laws prohibit discrimination and offer protections for people with disabilities in commercial facilities, public accommodations and government services and programs.
The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Title II of the ADA specifically refers to state and local government activities and prescribes that any programs, services and activities offered by public entities must be accessible for individuals with disabilities.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Access Board developed regulations known as the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for building and facilities. These regulations apply to new construction, as well as to any alterations of existing structures, and provide specific guidance in implementing the ADA.
Many states have also enacted state laws that require access to state government programs and facilities. In California, for example, Government Code Section 11135 requires all programs operated by state agencies to be accessible. In addition, California Government Code Section 4450 specifically requires that a facility built with public funds meet California’s state access standards found in Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations. These include specific requirements for sidewalk access that go beyond those in the ADAAG. California’s access standards, for example, currently require that sidewalks be at least 48” wide rather than the 36” required by the ADA.
To be accessible, sidewalks must meet specific design standards which allow for safe travel along pedestrian path ways. California requirements include unobstructed sidewalks that are 48” or wider, have a cross-slope no steeper than 2%, and be free of abrupt level changes that are greater than ½” in height. Sidewalks must also be free of obstacles which narrow the sidewalk to less than 36” and be free of overhanging obstacles, such as low tree limbs, that are not detectable with a cane.
The ADAAG defines a detectable warning as "a standardized surface feature built in or applied to walking surfaces or other elements to warn visually impaired people of hazards on a circulation path." The most common design for detectable warnings is a strip of yellow truncated domes. Detectable warnings act, as stop signs would to sighted individuals, to alert visually impaired pedestrians to potential hazards such as traffic. The ADAAG requires that municipalities and states install detectable warnings where sidewalks meet the street, at intersections so as to alert pedestrians with vision impairments that they are entering a vehicular route. Installation of detectible warning is immediately required on all new curb ramps and on any projects involving alterations to existing ramps. Such warnings also need to be added to existing curb ramps pursuant to a long-term “transition plan.”
Crosswalks must also be free of abrupt level changes greater than ½”, and should not have cross slopes greater than 2%. If the crosswalk is marked by painted lines, the curb ramps must be located within the designated crosswalk area. In addition, other access features, such as audible pedestrian signals, may be required at some locations.
Disability Rights Advocates ("DRA") recieves numerous complaints from Californians across the state about the inaccessibility of various pedestrian rights of way (i.e. sidewalks, crosswalks, and curb ramps). In reviewing these complaints, DRA has determined that many of these inaccessible pedestrian rights of way are under the control of the the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”). As a result, DRA launched a formal investigation into various access barriers reported along the pedestrian rights of way controlled by Caltrans.
By law, Caltrans is in control of the California state highway system and is responsible for the proper installation and maintenance of the pedestrian rights of way found along state highways. The pedestrian rights of way which are controlled by Caltrans are usually found along state highways where they become city streets, but also include sidewalks associated with on- and off-ramps to the state highways.
Through our formal investigation, DRA has discovered a wide variety of access barriers along the Caltrans pedestrian rights of way. Such barriers include missing or inadequate curb ramps at intersections, obstacles such as light poles and broken pavement along the length of the sidewalks, and a lack of detectable warnings (the yellow truncated domes located on the curb). Because of these barriers, people with mobility disabilities are often forced to travel in the street with the vehicular traffic, just inches from fast-moving cars, trucks and buses. Because of a lack of detectable warnings, pedestrians with vision disabilities are often unable to determine where the sidewalk ends and the street begins.
Complicating the situation further, DRA has found that it is nearly impossible for the general public to find out what pedestrian rights of way are under the control of Caltrans (and that Caltrans itself is not clear about what pedestrian rights of way are under its control). Therefore, people with disabilities who want to file a complaint about an access barrier do not know whether to file a complaint with Caltrans or their local city or county. This leads to long delays as the complaint is shuffled from one government entity to another and the access barrier goes unremedied.
After negotiation attempts with Caltrans failed, DRA filed a class action lawsuit against Caltrans on behalf of all Californians with mobility and vision disabilities. The named plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Californians for Disability Rights, Inc., the California Council for the Blind, Ben Rockwell (who has a mobility disability) and Dmitri Belser (who has a vision disability). The lawsuit alleges that Caltrans has violated federal and state civil rights laws designed to provide people with disabilities full and equal access to pedestrian rights of way and Park and Ride facilities. It seeks to remedy the numerous access barriers and pervasive violations committed by Caltrans. These barriers and violations are described in further detail in the complaint. The lawsuit is the first of its kind to challenge pedestrian rights of way access barriers on a statewide basis.
In 1999, DRA filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of people with disabilities against the City of Sacramento in order to remedy decades of discrimination relating to sidewalk access. Sacramento had failed to develop any plan for addressing the thousands of barriers along its system of public sidewalks. In addition, the City was extensively resurfacing city streets without fixing the adjacent sidewalks access barriers. Although the City ultimately agreed to a plan for installing curb ramps at intersections, the City still refused to make any effort to fix the barriers along the sidewalks between the intersections. The City claimed that although it owned and maintained the entire system of public sidewalks, it was not the City’s responsibility to ensure that the sidewalks are actually usable by those with disabilities. As a result, wheelchair and scooter users continued to have to roll in the streets alongside traffic and pedestrians with visual impairments continued to be exposed to unnecessary dangers.
After more than two years of litigation on this issue, DRA achieved a major victory when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ADA does require public entities to address all of the barriers, such as missing or unsafe curb cuts throughout the public sidewalk system, including barriers that block access along the length of the sidewalks. The Court held that “maintaining public sidewalks is a normal function of a city” and that the ADA requirement for curb ramps “would be meaningless if the sidewalks between the curb ramps were inaccessible.” This case set a nationwide precedent requiring cities and other public entities to make all public sidewalks accessible. After this groundbreaking decision, DRA reached a settlement with the City of Sacramento that covered all sidewalk barrier issues city-wide.
As a result of the court's ruling, cities are required to develop a plan to identify and remove obstacles for people with mobility and/or vision disabilities to travel safely around the city. Examples of the obstacles covered by the Court’s ruling include abrupt changes in level where tree roots have caused cracks in the sidewalk (these can prevent a wheelchair from passing, or trip a blind pedestrian who uses a cane), narrow passages due to sign posts or other obstacles in the path of travel, and excessive cross slopes where driveways cross sidewalks.
The settlement agreement that DRA reached with the City of Sacramento requires the City to allocate 20% of its annual Transportation Fund (which amounts to millions of dollars per year) to make the City's pedestrian rights of way accessible to individuals with vision and/or mobility disabilities. This includes installation of compliant curb ramps at intersections, removal of barriers that obstruct the sidewalk, and fixing abrupt changes in level, excessive cross slopes, and overhanging obstructions. It also includes access improvements at crosswalks.
A similar settlement has just been reached with the City of Vacaville regarding sidewalk accessibility. In 2004, DRA filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of people with mobility and vision disabilities against the City of Vacaville for its failure to develop a plan for sidewalk access. Similar to the case against Sacramento, this case focused on the City’s failure to provide accessible paths of travel along sidewalks and crosswalks, as well as pathways through public parking lots.
As part of this settlement, the City of Vacaville will annually dedicate the equivalent of 5% of its annual gas tax revenue, or a minimum of $50,000 (whichever is greater), to an ADA Advisory Committee Fund that will be used exclusively to install compliant curb ramps and remove other barriers so as to make Pedestrian Rights of Way accessible. Barrier removal projects will be selected by the City’s ADA Advisory Committee, subject to oversight and approval by the City’s Director of Public Works.
DRA also reach a settlement concerning sidewalk access with the City of Emeryville without the filing of a lawsuit. Under the settlement, the City agreed to improve access to its sidewalks by removing barriers at curb ramps and intersections, as well as ensure access along the length of the sidewalks inbetween intersections. Emeryville agreed to fix these barriers by the end of 2002.
This settlement with the City of Emeryville was one of the first instances where a City agreed to remedy its “mid-block barriers” (i.e., broken pavement, poles and benches).
You can read more about these cases on DRA’s website www.dralegal.org
Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) is investigating other complaints from people who have mobility or vision disabilities and who have encountered difficulty traveling on pedestrian rights of way on sidewalks, street crossings, and other pedestrian pathways. This includes problems such as missing curb ramps, broken concrete and other obstacles, as well as lack of detectible warnings. If you would like to discuss your experiences with pedestrian pathways, Please contact us at general@dralegal.org
