DESIGNING PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES FOR ACCESSIBILITY
Chicago, Illinois, 1 1/2 Days, Monday-Tuesday, June 9-10, 2008
REGISTRATION QUICK-LINKS
As of May 28, 2008, the workshop is full. No additional spaces are available at this time. Additional registrations received will be put on a waiting list in case there are cancellations.
Full Information Sheet and Registration Form to Mail or Fax (pdf)
(with credit card option)
Registration Form Only to Mail or Fax (pdf)
(with credit card option)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course, developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP), provides an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Rehabilitation Act and teaches participants how to apply guidelines and policies to the public rights-of-way:
• Background to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Rehabilitation Act
• Characteristics of pedestrians and their environment
• Legal requirements; US DOT and FHWA policies and funding opportunities
• Accessible pedestrian corridor design elements
• Accessible driveways and curb ramps
• Street crossings, including crosswalks, overpasses and underpasses, medians and islands
• Intersections, including roundabouts
• Pedestrian signs and signals, including accessible pedestrian signals (APS)
• Temporary facilities and construction site safety
WHY THIS CLASS IS IMPORTANT
Substantial numbers of people in northeastern Illinois have physical disabilities. To fully integrate people with disabilities, our communities should be accessible. To focus our attention, laws and regulations require accessibility.
Despite recent progress, current practices in much of northeastern Illinois do not fully comply with requirements to provide accessible pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way. This deficiency reduces mobility for people with disabilities. This deficiency also raises very substantial liabilities for jurisdiction agencies and local communities.
The class will go through public right-of-way accessibility practice so that design, construction, and operations in your community, as well as local ADA Transition Plans, can be appropriately updated.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Local, state, federal, and consulting engineers and planners with responsibility for designing and/or building pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way; urban designers; public officials; and interested citizens. Design professionals working in the public right-of-way will be given priority for early registration. Registration is limited to 35 participants.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
At the end of the workshop, you will have learned:
• About accessibility guidelines and requirements
• About the availability of design resources
• About obligations to evaluate practices, policies, and activities for discrimination and to remove barriers to achieve program access
• The importance of documenting decisions
• The range of pedestrians with disabilities; how people with disabilities use pedestrian facilities and how restrictive designs affect mobility and safety
• How to enhance pedestrian mobility, independence and safety through accessible pedestrian designs
REGISTRATION DETAILS
DATE AND TIME:
Monday-Tuesday,
June 9-10, 2008
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (M)
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (T)
LOCATION:
CMAP
Sears Tower
233 South Wacker Drive, Suite 800
Chicago, Illinois 60606
REGISTRATION INCLUDES:
• 1.5 Days of Training
• 12 PDH Units
• Printed Materials and CD-ROM
• Continental Breakfasts and Boxed Lunch On-site
• Field Exercise with Wheelchairs
PRIORITY PARTICIPANTS:
• Illinois engineers, planners, and other design professionals who plan, design, and/or build pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way
On-line Registration Form
Full Information Sheet and Registration Form to Mail or Fax (pdf)
(with credit card option)
Registration Form Only to Mail or Fax (pdf)
(with credit card option)
For information, contact Tom Murtha at 312-386-8790 or at tmurtha “at” cmap.illinois.gov
WORKSHOP INSTRUCTORS AND SPONSORS
The workshop will be taught at CMAP offices in Chicago by John LaPlante, P.E., P.T.O.E. of T.Y. Lin International with Scott Windley from the U.S. Access Board. This workshop is sponsored by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning as part of its Soles and Spokes Series. For information about this APBP Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals course, see “Training Courses” at http://www.apbp.org. This class is cosponsored by the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation and the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Here are links to resources for planning and designing accessible public rights of way.
Draft Public Rights-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines. Draft Regulations. Source: U.S. Access Board, 2005.
Accessible Public Rights of Way: Planning and Designing for Alterations. Special Report. Source: Public Rights-of-Way Access Advisory Committee, 2007.
Designing Sidewalks and Trails for Access. Best Practices Design Guide. Source: USDOT Federal Highway Administration, 2001.
Accessible Pedestrian Signals. Synthesis and Guide to Best Practice. Source: Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, 2003.
Accessible Sidewalks Videos. Series of Four Videos Exploring Issues for Pedestrians Who Use Wheelchairs or Are Mobility-Impaired, Low-Vision, or Blind. U.S. Access Board, 2008.
At the 2005 Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) conference in Chicago, a workshop session examined some of the legal issues regarding Transition Plans as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act, along with various design and planning issues related to pedestrian accommodations in existing facilities. The session titled, “Legal Issues under the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act” brought together four speakers to address these issues. Speakers included Lisa MacPhee, Attorney Advisor for the Federal Highway Administration; Matt Zoll, AICP, Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager for the Pima County (AZ) Department of Transportation; Gail Payne, AICP, a senior transportation consultant with Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc.; and Lois Thibault, Coordinator of Research for the U.S. Access Board.
The 3+ hour session began covered many issues regarding planning and programming projects to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Topics covered included transition plans, public right-of-way accessibility standards, programming, applicability to construction projects, and other topics.
At the end of 2006, following the meeting, additional federal guidance has become available. Key points:
- Planning: Title 23 requires that long-range transportation plans and transportation improvement programs, in both statewide and metropolitan planning processes, provide for the development and integrated management and operation of accessible transportation systems and facilities.
Additionally, State DOTs and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) must certify (at least biennially for State DOTs and annually for MPOs) that the transportation planning process is being carried out or conducted in accordance with all FHWA, Federal Transit Administration and other applicable Federal statutory and regulatory requirements [see 23 CFR 450.220 and 23 CFR 450.334, respectively]. Further, 23 CFR 450.316(b)(3) requires the metropolitan planning process to identify actions necessary to comply with the ADA and Section 504.
- Transition Plans: The ADA and Section 504 require State and local governments with 50 or more employees to perform a self-evaluation of their current services, policies, and practices that do not or may not meet ADA requirements. The public agency must develop a Transition Plan addressing these deficiencies. This plan assesses the needs of persons with disabilities, and then schedules the required pedestrian accessibility upgrades. The Transition Plan is to be updated periodically, with its needs reflected in the processes utilized by State DOTs, MPOs, and transit agencies to develop the Statewide Transportation Improvement Programs and metropolitan Transportation Improvement Programs.
For more information, read the complete FHWA memorandum.