[blindlaw] Municipal and Legislative Proposals

Sun Sep 13 23:18:13 UTC 2009

Fred,

That was a great help!  You gave me a few other ideas that I hadn't thought
of...Thanks so much!  You're appreciated.

William

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Fred Wright Lopez
Sent: Sunday, September 13, 2009 5:10 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Municipal and Legislative Proposals

William
Your state and county of residence would likely determine your  
approach in this matter.   I reside in a suburb near san Francisco,  
CA.  For several years I have been involved in transit issues (audible  
signal lights, curb ramp cutouts, tactile dome mats, smart crosswalks,  
paratransit and fixed route services).   For a few years I sat as my  
city's representative on a county transportation advisory committee.    
Waht I've taken away from all of this is as follows:   The State has  
retains jurisdictional responsibility for State operated bridges,  
highways and freeways in California.   For historical reasons, many  
former highways particularly in urban areas have become local streets  
or boulevards.   However, the State retains ownership and therefore  
all maintenance responsibility including that for any signal systems  
or crosswalks.   All other streets, roads and siganl systems are the  
responsibility of the local City authority (or if in an unincorporated  
area, the local County).  In each instance the Public Works Department  
has authority for maintenance of local roads, signal systems and  
crosswalks.  At the State level, the California Department of  
Transportation has the corresponding responsibility for state operated  
highways, streets, signal systems and corsswalks.

It is my understanding that every state and by extension every county  
and city that is a recipient of Federal Transportation Highway funds  
is required to develope Short and Long Term Transportation Plans.   In  
California the short range plans are five years and the long range  
plans are twenty years.   These plans must also be modified and  
updated in accordance with changed circumstances.   Most large urban  
areas have Metropolitan Transportation Agencies, which serve as  
repositories for all Transportation Plans form local county  
transportation agencies.   The Federal Highway Transportation Agency  
has a web site with extensive ADA compliance information.   In sum,  
State, County and local municipalities must assure that their streets,  
roads and pedestrian crossings are complaint with the Americans with  
Disabilities Act...   For at least   a decade or two, these  
jurisdictions have been required to complete an inventory of streets,  
roads and pedestrian corssing that do or do not meet ADA compliance  
standards and specify plans for correction.

How individual jurisdictions go about this ADA compliance is both at  
times a mystery and baffling.  Many jurisdictions through responding  
to local pressure have undertaken extensive ADA correctie actions.    
San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland for example have for decades  
installed and maintained audible signal systems, curb cutouts and  
other other ADA complaint measures.  Yet smaller jurisdictions simply  
ignore these ADA requirements or continually postpone them citing  
financial constrains.  Absent local citizen pressure or the filing of  
a legal complaint for ADA non compliance no corrective action is taken.

With regard to corsswalks, if it is a local issue, your best coruse of  
action is to approach your local public works department in your city  
and aks for the short or long term transit plan and for any vehicle or  
pedestrain flow studies that pertain to said crosswalk or lack there  
of.   In my experience, the engineers at these public works  
departments are friendly and generally aware that many of their  
streets are non ADA compliant but will tell you that the problem is  
MONEY and PRIORITIES.   If its a state road, the State Transportation  
Agency will have simailr data on the lcoal road or intersection of  
concern to you.

If you are trying to get a crosswalk, a stop sign or a city signal  
light (hopefully one that is audible) that you should only go to your  
local city council person or state representative after you have done  
your research, spoken with the traffic engineers in your city, county  
or State Transportation agency.   The best success I have had locally  
is when I have been abel to build coalitions with seniors, the  
disabled, local schools and parents and churches.

Hope this is of some help.

Fred W. Lopez

On Sep 13, 2009, at 12:00 PM, WB wrote:

> Does anyone in the list have experience with approaching their local  
> and/or
> state legislature with proposals to improve various issue points (i.e.
> accessible crosswalks)?  I have done some research but want to ask  
> those who
> may have experience in this for their suggestions as to approach and
> resources.
>
>
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
>
>
> William
>
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