The Wright County Board of Commissioners last week approved an American Disabilities Act (ADA) Pedestrian Facilities Transition Plan for county road right of ways.

 

The plan covers standards for pedestrian walkways and sidewalks along intersections on all county roads. 

 

ADA was enacted in the 1990s as a way to ensure people with disabilities were not discriminated against. Modifying pedestrian walkways to accommodate disabled individuals was one standard set forth under the ADA.

 

The standards include sidewalks with sloping ramps and truncated domes - rectangular strips that warn sight-impaired pedestrians and people in wheelchairs they are approaching an intersection.

 

Wright County Highway Engineer Virgil Hawkins said the plan is a requirement in order for the county to receive federal funding for road projects.

 

“This is a plan that all Minnesota counties approve so they have a transition plan in place so we don’t jeopardize any federal dollars,” he said.

 

Hawkins said the plan covers 937 different places in the county where ADA standards will potentially be put in place, including areas that don’t currently have sidewalks.

 

“Some of these rural locations will never have a need for them because there will never be sidewalks or trails there,” he said.

 

Commissioner Michael Potter said the county needs to be realistic when it comes to implementing the standards, especially in those rural areas.

 

“This is a case of federal extortion,” he said. “Either you pass it or we withhold money,” he said. “Granted you want to accommodate as much as you can, but common sense has to enter the picture.” 

He said some cities have been struggling with the improvements because of compatibility with existing sidewalks.

 

“They have old infrastructure,” he said. “It’s hard to try to get slopes perfect without interfering with buildings, parking lots and right-of-way concerns.”

 

Hawkins said government entities are all developing similar plans.

 

“This is a law that has been on the books since 1993, but a lot of agencies haven’t really enforced the law,” he said. “There were some high profile federal cases of discrimination in Pennsylvania and California where agencies got sued for millions of dollars. Since that time there’s been an emphasis to get these plans approved.”

 

Hawkins said the improvements would cost the county between $3 million and $4 million if they decided to do the changes as a project on its own. But that won’t be the case in Wright County.

 

“As part of our plan, we’re going to make these improvements to comply with the law as we do our reconstruction projects,” he said. “So it’s something well do over a period of many years.”