17. ADA Transition PlanCUPERTINO
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
Sumlcn~ry
AGENDA ITEM
AGENDA DATE October 212008
SUBJECT AND ISSUE
Report on the Cupertino Americans with Disabii!.ities Act Transition Plan.
BACKGROUND
Existing Transition Plan
Title lI, Subpart D, Section 35.150{d) of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act {ADA)
requires that governmental entities make all public facilities accessible and usable. If structural
changes to facilities were needed to make a governmental entity's facilities and programs
accessible to all who desired to use them, including persons with disabilities, a transition plan
setting forth the steps necessary for such char€;es was required. In order to comply with this
ADA requirement, the City of Cupertino adopted' an ADA Transition Plan on December 7, 1992.
The City's Transition Plan identified physical barriers that limited access to City facilities and
programs, outlined methods to be used in removing the barriers, and established a schedule to
remove those barriers by January 1995. The criteria established to accomplish the removal of
existing barriers were applied to the eight buildings and 14 parks that the City awned at that
time, since those buildings and parks were the facilities where the City's programs were
available. These criteria have been applied since that time to new City facilities, to new
construction, and to significant alterations to existing facilities.
In keeping with ADA guidelines set forth by d:~e federal departments of Transportation (DOT)
and Justice (DOJ}, the Transition Plan concerned itself not only with removal of barriers to
parking, entrances, interior routes, restrooms, assembly areas, telephones, signage, and the local
path of travel around these facilities but also to file accessibility of sidewalks and street crossings
along major streets. On March 19, 1999, staff reported to Council that the work that was
required to remove the barriers identified in the Transition Plan had -been substantially
completed.
One ongoing item of compliance with ADA requirements not catalogued and scheduled street by
street in the Transition Plan is the installation o:f wheelchair ramps on the curb returns of street
intersections that are neither on the local path of travel to City facilities nor along major streets.
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DOT and DOJ have previously interpreted ADA Sections 35.150 and 35.151 to require that
wheelchair ramps be installed in conjunction with new street construction and with significant
alteration of existing streets. According to ADA guidelines, filling of potholes would not be a
significant alteration, but a pavement maintenance sealing or overlay would be. Consistent with
these guidelines, from the time that ADA compliance, was required 1992, the City has
consistently retrofitted existing street corners that adjoin significant alteration maintenance
projects with wheelchair ramps. The current year's pavement maintenance projects, for
example, are installing approximately 80 wheelchair ramps in the existing residential
neighborhoods in which the projects are taking place.
Updating the Transition Plan
Upon the recommendation of ABAG, provider of the City's pool liability insurance, staff has
engaged ADA program consultant Moore Iacofano Goldsman {MIG) to evaluate the City's
current Transition Plan and make recommendations for its update. MIG has issued a report that
sets out a process for surveying existing facilities and department programs for additional ADA
compliance needs. Staff will report to Council on this process in more detail during the
approaching budget review and approval.
ABAG has recommended that in order to avoid increasing liability, the City become more
proactive in setting out a plan for retrofitting street intersections with wheelchair ramps. ABAG
suggests that a priority be placed on updating the Transition Plan #o provide for a scheduled
retrofit of wheelchair ramps beyond those that are now installed in conjunction with new
construction and significant alteration of existing streets. This would entail establishing a
schedule and providing a budget appropriation in the CIP specifically for the retrofit of existing
street intersections with wheelchair ramps. ~ There is a current need for about 1,000 wheelchair
ramp retrofits citywide.
FISCAL IMPACT
The current cost of installing the estimated 1,000 wheelchair ramps is about $3,000,000.00.
Taking into account escalation of the cost if the work is spread over a number of years, the actual
eventual cost would be greater. If the work were spread over 15 years in the CIP, an annual
allocation of $300,000.00 may be sufficient.
Staff will report on the specific fiscal impact of the ADA Transition Plan update with appropriate
recommendations during the mid-year budget review.
This report is for the Council's information only and no action is required.
Submitted by:
~~~~v`~
Ralph A. Qualls, Jr.
Director of Public Works
Approved for submission:
David W. KnaPP
City Manager
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