New Chicago Curbs Built to Meet American Disabilities Act Requirements

This summer, Chicagoans who got off at the Jarvis Red Line stop or walked down Greenview noticed the construction on each curb. While neighbors complained about why potholes or uneven pavement wasn't being fixed instead of what may have been viewed as a perfectly good curb, the Council for Disability Rights disagreed.

In Sept. 2007, the $50 million settlement between the Council for Disability Rights, et.al, v. The City of Chicago resulted from complaints that Chicago's streets did not meet the requirements for the federal Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). Construction done in 2006 resulted in "extreme" slopes and "twice as steep as the law allowed." Now those curbs will have to be torn up and rebuilt, as well as additional curbs.

According to ADA, "Chicago will spend over $140,000,000 in the next 5 years installing curb ramps that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)."

Although $18 million is annually funded to fix city streets, the settlement amount of $50 million includes repairing high-traffic area city streets that aren't scheduled for repair.

At the first of nine meetings with Ward 49's participatory budgeting assemblies, Alderman Joe Moore confirmed this. At the Loyola Beach Fieldhouse on Mon., Sept. 27, he explained that some streets that may have gone in the suggested list for street restoration in Rogers Park, West Ridge and Edgewater wouldn't need to be covered under the $1.3 million the alderman receives. The money to repair those curbs would come from the City of Chicago settlement. In the 2010 participatory budgeting results, the highest votes (910) were for sidewalk repairs totaling $188,292.

For those who run into curb problems while using a wheelchair, cane or crutches, the ADA encourages them to contact 311 to verify whether that curb will be fixed within the five-year timeframe or if it needs to be added to the schedule of streets to fix. In the past, disabled pedestrians would end up riding in the street to avoid dangerous curbs.

Additional Notes: This entry was originally published by the Chicago News & Events Examiner.