We applaud TX DOT for launching construction projects to make sidewalks ADA-compliant.

We have added this article to our blog to stress an important point. 

The goal of the construction, of course, is an ADA-compliant sidewalk. 

However, the contractors have installed non-ADA-compliant barricades to close the sidewalk itself.   

Nor do we see, admittedly from the limited perspective of the photograph, an alternate, or temporary pedestrian access route, (TPAR) which is also an ADA requirement.

We manufacture SafetyRail, an ADA-compliant pedestrian barricade that contractors can use for both the sidewalk closure barricade, and the TPAR device, to guide pedestrians safely through the work zone.   

Please visit the main site, or www.adabarricade.com, for more information about SafetyRail.

Forcing a mother, pushing a baby stroller no less, and her children into the street seems a little dangerous, don’t you think?

We don’t believe that the work zone described here would meet ADA requirements, which mandate that contractors must provide safe pedestrian access routes (PAR) through construction work zones.  If contractors cannot use an existing route, they must provide a temporary pedestrian access route (TPAR).

That said, contractors must use ADA-compliant temporary traffic control devices, or TPAR devices, to provide safe, continuous guidance through the work zone.

We manufacture and market SafetyRail Pedestrian Barricade, an ADA-compliant TPAR device. For more information, please visit www.adabarricade.com, and download our SafetyRail Product & Compliance Guide.

From the article: 

“Sixty-nine citations for violation of a traffic control device have already been issued…[f]ifty -nine of the charges will be dropped, according to the city prosecutor’s office.”

And why is that?  “Of those 69 citations, a large majority of them are going to be dismissed because of improper marking in the construction zone,” [Lt. Tony] Hetrick [Bowling Green PD] said. “It wasn’t as secured as it maybe should have been.”

We notice, at least in this picture, among other issues, there is no temporary pedestrian access route (TPAR).

Read the entire article here.

From the link: 

“Neighbors in a Pittsburgh neighborhood said they are unhappy with a man’s sidewalk construction that forces people to walk in the street.”

At the link, you’ll see a local news video from WPXI.  It’s only 1:44, and worth the time, as you’ll see a classic, and dangerous, non-ADA-compliant sidewalk closure.

“Sixty miles of streets will be redesigned annually, 1,500 intersections will get countdown clocks and the number of slow-traffic zones around schools will triple as part of a new city push to reduce pedestrian injuries and deaths caused by automobiles.”

Read the entire article here.

From the article: 

“Always be alert. There’s going to be kids walking – look out for that,” said Beth Washington, coordinator of Safe Kids Tulsa Area. “Obey all traffic signs, speed limits.”

And:  “Distracted drivers and those on cell phones are also a danger.” 

Well, again, we have a product that will alert them: RoadQuake Temporary Portable Rumble Strip.

Read the entire article here.

From the article: 

“Every day, more doors open to Americans who live with disabilities. We are a better nation because of it.”

Read it here.

“Nearly five years after a federal judge ordered the City of Detroit to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act by installing curb ramps at intersections, several streets still have not been fitted with properly constructed access ramps.”

We would think most major cities would be well beyond this.  

Read the entire article here.

This is a very good article about roundabouts, as being used in Brighton, MI and being considered in Fenton, MI.  The author concludes with the benefits of roundabouts, courtesy of FHWA.

We’re seeing more and more “pedestrian safety” web blogs, in which citizens in a community can alert their neighbors to dangerous sidewalk conditions.

Usually it is one person, a champion, that launches the effort in a community.  Like William Smith, a legally blind, stay-at-home Dad, who lives in Silver Springs, MD. 

Smith started a blog because, quoting from a profile in the Washington Post, ”…he seeks to raise awareness because the problems he finds aren’t mere inconveniences. They are roadblocks to something much more precious: his independence.”

Visit Smith’s blog here.   Read the WaPo article here.