El Paso County approves transition plan for complying with federal disability laws
Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act -- requiring public facilities and infrastructure to be accessible to handicapped citizens -- but many local governments have yet to fully comply with the law.
On Thursday, El Paso County commissioners took an important step toward improved compliance by unanimously approving an ADA transition plan.
Local governments struggle to comply with the ADA because it essentially was an unfunded mandate, requiring municipalities to spend millions of dollars without providing any funding to those entities.
The ADA involves proper maintenance of sidewalks, curbs, gutters and ramps, providing an adequate number of parking spaces and ensuring that public entrances, exits and seating areas allow easy access to the disabled.
Although the county has made progress toward ADA compliance in recent years, Thursday's vote formalizes a plan to assess needs, correct shortcomings and keep citizens informed on progress.
Officials said their compliance assessment is ongoing, but so far they've identified $3 million in needs.
The annual budget for the county's ADA office is $300,000, but officials said commissioners have doubled that amount -- for this year and next -- by allocating funds from other sources.
Recent projects include installing automatic doors in restrooms at Centennial Hall, a new handicapped ramp at the Pikes Peak Center and new signs and markings for handicapped parking spaces.
Upcoming projects include new showers at the jail, paving the parking lot at the county fairgrounds and upgrades at Widefield Park and the Fountain Creek Nature Center.
According to officials, the plan also will protect the county against lawsuits, such as two settled last year by Colorado Springs. As part of the settlement, the city agreed to install 15,000 curb ramps during the next 14 years.
"That comes to about 1,100 a year," said Corey Farkas, the city's public works manager of operations and maintenance. "But we're actually doing better than that. We've completed around 1,400 in each of the first two years. It's hard to say how much all of them will cost because they vary depending on location."
Farkas said a regional sales tax, by the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority, is paying for the court-ordered upgrades.
"And that doesn't include the curb ramps we're installing as part of the 2C expanded street paving project, although those ramps do count toward the total of 15,000," he said.
