Project Type: Sidewalk
Location: Apex, NC
What you need to know about ADA Compliant Sidewalks
Everybody deserves a fair and equal opportunity. No matter what race, caste, creed, or color we belong to all of us deserve to live a life like everybody else. The ADA act which is Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, it gives the right to every disabled American citizen to use the streets of any corner of the city.
The ADA act was last revised in 2016. It was stated that people with disabilities should not only be entitled to receive financial help but also be given a fair chance to access the public properties easily. Everybody should get an equal chance to use the public properties, like pubs, restaurants, parks, theatres, hospitals, and more.
It is mandatory for all the ground transport facility to provide accessible pathways for everyone who is disabled. Also, buses, transit rail, subways should be made easily accessible to every disabled person. The same rule is also applicable to the handicapped people too. According to the ADA Act, hotels and airports have been ordered to provide shuttles and transport facility for all disabled people with pickup and drop facility.
Public transport must follow the ADA act and meet all the requirements. This has led to making all the transportation modes to provide disable friendly modification so that people with disability can use the facility easily.
ADA act has made it mandatory for all the local government and transport services to follow its guidelines seriously. The guidelines are not limited to new service providers, but to the older and established ones as well. The guidelines have clearly stated to provide ADA complaint sidewalks. All the sidewalks and curbs have to be as per the ADA act rules and guidelines.
Why it is important to provide ADA compliant sidewalks?
Almost thousands of people in a day walk on these sidewalks. In fact, the number increases by a couple more during the wee hours. Sidewalks have been made for people so that they can walk safely. People also prefer to take the sidewalks to reach the nearest destination.
Since on a daily basis, we see thousands of people walking on the sidewalks, the ADA Act has made it compulsory to provide sidewalks with curb ramps for disabled people. Sidewalks are used by everyone. Sometimes a person bounded by the wheelchair may find it difficult to cross it. Sometimes, even the huge crowd makes it difficult for them to cross the sidewalks.
As per ADA concrete guidelines, it has become compulsory to provide sidewalks with curb ramps. Curb ramps are nothing but a concrete ramp that you see on the top of a road. The curb ramp makes it easy for people with disabilities or people in a wheelchair to access the sidewalk. The curb also helps people to cross the subway comfortably to get connected to the main road.
The technical specification
As per ADA concrete guidelines, the sidewalk should be of a minimum of 3-feet height and the surface should be flat and non-slippery. The material used to build the curb should be wheelchair friendly too so that the person using it doesn’t feel any discomfort at all. Also, the slop should be of 1:20 ratio. If there are any grates on the road at all, then the ramp must be in an adequate height to let the person in a wheelchair reach the surface easily.
Everyone deserves equal opportunity and ADA complaint sidewalks guidelines have made the life of physically disabled people easier.
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