The federal legislation known as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides comprehensive civil rights protections to persons with disabilities in the areas of employment, state and local government services, and access to public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. The ADA specifically requires public entities with more than 50 employees that have responsibility for streets and sidewalks to conduct a Self Evaluation and create a Transition Plan that identifies the steps needed to bring the pedestrian infrastructure under their authority into compliance. It is possible that federal funding can be withheld without a Transition Plan completed or underway.
A key goal of the Village of Mount Prospect is to develop an ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan. The development of such a plan is a two-fold, future-thinking document. The Self Evaluation portion of the plan assesses how well the Village’s transportation system such as sidewalks, curb ramps, pedestrian signals, and crosswalks comply with the ADA. The Self Evaluation looks at existing policies and programs related to accessibility, engages with the public, and inventories transportation infrastructure to identify barriers and opportunities for improvement. The Transition Plan prioritizes, estimates costs, plans and drafts a schedule to make the improvements identified in the Self Evaluation.
The Village is working with DLZ Illinois, Inc. (DLZ) of Chicago, Illinois. They put together a very strong project team with extensive experience developing ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plans. They are well-informed of the latest ADA updates and have the capability to navigate the complex process to accomplish a comprehensive ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan. They have provided professional services to many clients around the country and in Illinois including the Illinois Department of Transportation and several nearby communities.
