mark handler
SAWHORSE
Still wrong
Gettysburg Times
Posted: Thursday, November 25, 2010 7:09 pm
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/news/local/article_08d77c5e-f8f2-11df-add0-001cc4c002e0.html
BY SCOT ANDREW PITZER Times Staff Writer |
The new crosswalk ramps along York Street in Gettysburg fall short of meeting federal law, even though they were installed as a result of litigation.
Borough Manager Florence Ford estimates that up to 60 percent of the intersection crosswalk ramps and curb-cuts do not meet mandated criteria, such as slope, width and other technical and design standards. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) infrastructure upgrades meet state disabled-access code, but fall short of meeting federal law.
“This is going to be an ongoing issue. We’ve been going out there saying that this isn’t going to work,” said Ford, adding that the borough is hiring an ADA consultant to review the new crosswalk ramps. “We have to meet federal guidelines.”
“We’re paying for 50 percent of the ramps, and the borough doesn’t want to do that if they’re not in compliance,” said Ford.
“For our liability, and protecting our safety, I think we need to do this,” Ford said about hiring Lancaster-based H.R. Gray, explaining that the firm is “recognized nationally.”
Contractors have been replacing crosswalk ramps and sidewalk curb-cuts over the past two years, as the borough government has been named in state and federal disabled-access litigation. While the crosswalk ramps and curb cuts meet guidelines set forth by the state’s Dept. of Transportation, many do not comply with federal law.
“PennDOT’s policy is that the ramps are being constructed to meet federal guidelines,” explained PennDOT spokesman Michael Crochunis.
“With that being said, there may be site constraints that would not allow a ramp to be constructed fully to standard,” continued Crochunis. “Some of those constraints are limited right-of-way, existing utilities, existing buildings, walls or vaults, environmental impacts, historic impacts, safety and the roadway profile.”
The state recently hired contractors to resurface Chambersburg Street, from the borough’s western boundary at the Lutheran Theological Seminary to Lincoln Square, as well as York Street into the square. ADA upgrades were part of the project, as many intersections were named in litigation.
“For the sites where it is not feasible to construct the facilities fully to standard, PennDOT designs and constructs the ramp to the maximum extent feasible,” noted Crochunis.
Ford explained that PennDOT contractors installed the ramps, and that “not all of them are bad.”
Gettysburg Councilman Bob Krummerich explained that if the borough accepts the crosswalk ramps and curb cuts, “and they’re not acceptable,” then the borough will have to pay for the replacement. So the borough is holding off on approving PennDOT’s work until the ramps are inspected by H.R. Gray. The agency has worked with the borough in the past.
Ford guessed that the Chambersburg Street ramps are “OK, but not on York Street,” and informed officials at a Nov. 22 board meeting that she “tripped over ramps herself.”
“I could not believe what I was seeing,” she said. “I want to be sure before I accept these that they comply,” she said.
The borough has estimated that it costs about $3,500 to replace crosswalk ramps and curb-cuts at a single intersection. Grant funding has been secured through Pennsylvania Community Development programming. In 2008, the borough obtained $70,000 in state grant funding for ADA work, and another $80,000 in 2009.
The borough floated a $3.7 million bond earlier this year, to cover other ADA projects and studies. A transition plan for ADA work “goes out the next 15 years,” according to Ford, “so it’s important that we get it right.”
Borough Finance Director Ramona Overton has estimated that 500 crosswalk ramps must be replaced in Gettysburg, at an estimated cost of about $2 million.
The American with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush, making accessibility for disabled persons a federal right. Like other historic towns, Gettysburg was built at a time when ADA regulations did not exist, so many downtown businesses, sidewalks and intersections do not comply with the law. As a result of those deficiencies, the borough has been blitzed with abundant ADA complaints and lawsuits over the years, by Hampstead, Md., disabled rights activist Marilynn Phillips
Gettysburg Times
Posted: Thursday, November 25, 2010 7:09 pm
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/news/local/article_08d77c5e-f8f2-11df-add0-001cc4c002e0.html
BY SCOT ANDREW PITZER Times Staff Writer |
The new crosswalk ramps along York Street in Gettysburg fall short of meeting federal law, even though they were installed as a result of litigation.
Borough Manager Florence Ford estimates that up to 60 percent of the intersection crosswalk ramps and curb-cuts do not meet mandated criteria, such as slope, width and other technical and design standards. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) infrastructure upgrades meet state disabled-access code, but fall short of meeting federal law.
“This is going to be an ongoing issue. We’ve been going out there saying that this isn’t going to work,” said Ford, adding that the borough is hiring an ADA consultant to review the new crosswalk ramps. “We have to meet federal guidelines.”
“We’re paying for 50 percent of the ramps, and the borough doesn’t want to do that if they’re not in compliance,” said Ford.
“For our liability, and protecting our safety, I think we need to do this,” Ford said about hiring Lancaster-based H.R. Gray, explaining that the firm is “recognized nationally.”
Contractors have been replacing crosswalk ramps and sidewalk curb-cuts over the past two years, as the borough government has been named in state and federal disabled-access litigation. While the crosswalk ramps and curb cuts meet guidelines set forth by the state’s Dept. of Transportation, many do not comply with federal law.
“PennDOT’s policy is that the ramps are being constructed to meet federal guidelines,” explained PennDOT spokesman Michael Crochunis.
“With that being said, there may be site constraints that would not allow a ramp to be constructed fully to standard,” continued Crochunis. “Some of those constraints are limited right-of-way, existing utilities, existing buildings, walls or vaults, environmental impacts, historic impacts, safety and the roadway profile.”
The state recently hired contractors to resurface Chambersburg Street, from the borough’s western boundary at the Lutheran Theological Seminary to Lincoln Square, as well as York Street into the square. ADA upgrades were part of the project, as many intersections were named in litigation.
“For the sites where it is not feasible to construct the facilities fully to standard, PennDOT designs and constructs the ramp to the maximum extent feasible,” noted Crochunis.
Ford explained that PennDOT contractors installed the ramps, and that “not all of them are bad.”
Gettysburg Councilman Bob Krummerich explained that if the borough accepts the crosswalk ramps and curb cuts, “and they’re not acceptable,” then the borough will have to pay for the replacement. So the borough is holding off on approving PennDOT’s work until the ramps are inspected by H.R. Gray. The agency has worked with the borough in the past.
Ford guessed that the Chambersburg Street ramps are “OK, but not on York Street,” and informed officials at a Nov. 22 board meeting that she “tripped over ramps herself.”
“I could not believe what I was seeing,” she said. “I want to be sure before I accept these that they comply,” she said.
The borough has estimated that it costs about $3,500 to replace crosswalk ramps and curb-cuts at a single intersection. Grant funding has been secured through Pennsylvania Community Development programming. In 2008, the borough obtained $70,000 in state grant funding for ADA work, and another $80,000 in 2009.
The borough floated a $3.7 million bond earlier this year, to cover other ADA projects and studies. A transition plan for ADA work “goes out the next 15 years,” according to Ford, “so it’s important that we get it right.”
Borough Finance Director Ramona Overton has estimated that 500 crosswalk ramps must be replaced in Gettysburg, at an estimated cost of about $2 million.
The American with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990 by President George H. W. Bush, making accessibility for disabled persons a federal right. Like other historic towns, Gettysburg was built at a time when ADA regulations did not exist, so many downtown businesses, sidewalks and intersections do not comply with the law. As a result of those deficiencies, the borough has been blitzed with abundant ADA complaints and lawsuits over the years, by Hampstead, Md., disabled rights activist Marilynn Phillips