September 14, 2008
New Blog: Rights of Passage
A new blog shows promise at The Windy Citizen called Rights of Passage. According to their self-description:
Rights of Passage is a blog that will address local issues facing the disability community in Chicago. Edited by Jo Holzer and Catherine Marsden, Rights of Passage will look at current news, commentary and developments pertaining to accessibility around Chicago.
All the things I have learned in 40-plus years of walking behind or beside my youngest daughter, he will have to learn from experience: expect the unexpected, do not assume the ramp is accessible, look across the street to the next ramp, know that most people do not understand "ADA accessible" or "wheelchair accessible" - at least not as specifically as is necessary for access. He must learn that, when he hears "Oh yes, we have customers in wheelchairs," it does not mean the premises are actually accessible. So we all come to rely on each other - have you actually been there? Do you know someone who has been there recently - and understands the ADA? Just getting from point A to point B becomes a daily challenge.
A successful lawsuit against the City of Chicago, launched in October 2005 by the Council for Disability Rights and settled in 2007, should go a long way toward guaranteeing predictably safe curb cuts in our fair city -- and we can only hope and pray that its influence will spread far beyond. One of the greatest hazards in daily life for folks in wheelchairs - or with other mobility problems - is the inconsistent accessibility of the public environment. Every day decisions must be made about accessible paths of travel - to lunch, to a new appointment, to a new store location, to any place you have not been recently.Posted by rollingrains at September 14, 2008 07:00 PMThanks to a remarkable federal judge -- who spent a very hot summer afternoon in 2006 on Chicago sidewalks with CDOT (Chicago Dept. of Transportation) crew, engineers, lawyers from both sides, people in wheelchairs, and two City Commissioners (DOT and Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities) -- access to the public environment will become a smoother, more reliably accessible roll. The CDOT now understands the subtle geometric complexity involved in assuring that each curb ramp is in compliance with the ADA standards, however unusual the geometry of the sidewalk, curb, and street may be and they have actually devised more than one standard ramp. They have also added a condition to City contracts that requires the contractors to correct ramps that are not compliant with the ADA. They have also extensively trained their own engineers and roadwork staff in the finer points of access and slope management.