The city of Rochester is seeking input on making public spaces more accessible — including how to make sidewalks, crosswalks, and bus stops compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The city is federally required to perform a self-assessment of accessibility and develop an updated plan to remove any barriers.
“It's really looking at a pretty fine detailed level, at what are, what are barriers for somebody who's on a sidewalk trying to cross the street," said David Riley, the city's principal transportation specialist. "Are the curb ramps up to current standards? Is the grade of the sidewalk appropriate?”
Riley said it could be a matter of 10 years or more to implement changes. A project advisory committee of 19 organizations — including Arc of Monroe, Lifespan, and Rochester Accessible Adventures — and higher education institutions including University of Rochester and Monroe Community College assisted with the draft plan.
The public meeting on Tuesday is the next step in gathering insights into what and where changes can be made based on people’s experiences.
The city states that individuals with disabilities, their families, caregivers, the organizations that support them as well as residents “with experience in accessibility needs and best practices” are encouraged to attend.
“We want to hear from the public about what their priorities are,” Riley said. “If we commit to a more aggressive plan, where should we focus first? If we have to spread the improvements over time, what are the places that we need to address sooner than later?”
Some disability rights advocates and specialists are already weighing in.
“When we're looking at areas for priority, it would be the locations where there are large, subsidized apartment complexes in the city to ensure that the primary routes that people with disabilities are using are fully accessible,” said Bruce Darling, CEO of the Center for Disability Rights.
The Center for Disability Rights was invited to be part of the committee that worked on the draft plan but did not participate. Darling said he plans to attend the public meeting.
One of Darling’s concerns centers on crosswalks where there is an island in the middle for pedestrians to wait for traffic between lanes. The current designs are often too narrow for multiple wheelchair users to navigate together, he said.
“What happens is, if you're crossing the street and the light changes, you now have to decide who's going to hang out into the street, because the pedestrian Island isn't big enough for all of you,” Darling said. “Nondisabled people can just jump up on the curb. It's no biggie. But if you're wheelchair users, you're just stuck.”
That design prevents people with mobility disabilities from traveling in groups, making getting around the city a more isolating experience, he said.
That alienation by design is also something that Danielle Rostan Loomis, an occupational therapist at the Mary Cariola Center and certified autism specialist, also sees as a solvable challenge. Mary Cariola is among the organizations involved in the advisory committee.
“If sidewalks are too narrow, it might not be possible for somebody in a wheelchair to have somebody next to them and go to an event with multiple people in their group and have those social participation opportunities,” Rostan Loomis said. “So, there are a lot of other things that can happen when the infrastructure is not in place. It's not just about safety and independence. It’s also about quality of life.”
The virtual public meeting is being held over Zoom and is scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
