Many state transportation agencies are trying to address compliance with the American Disabilities Act (ADA) Guidelines. ADA compliance issues are being raised in the design of projects and in many cases during construction activities regardless of the scope of the action being undertaken. To assess ADA compliance agencies need to develop a comprehensive inventory of pedestrian pathways and crossings, identify non-compliant locations and develop a program for remedial repairs to bring facilities into compliance. Such an inventory is necessary to adequately address ADA issues during design and construction of highways.
For many transportation agencies, addressing ADA compliance has been a new emphasis area. Innovative approaches for gathering inventory and condition data for pedestrian infrastructure may be transferable to other agencies managing ADA compliance issues. A number of the approaches being used to gather inventory and condition data for ADA compliance are potentially transferable also to the management of other transportation asset categories.
The purpose of this project was to gather information on the various approaches transportation agencies have been utilizing to address ADA compliance issues in terms of inventory, condition assessment and the programming of improvements, with the primary objective of this project being to share best practices. The project entailed a review of information regarding ADA compliance and identification of a list of stakeholders to be interviewed. A questionnaire was developed and used with these stakeholder groups to identify the state of the practice and appropriate contacts for follow-up interviews. The questionnaire was used in combination with a questionnaire developed under NCHRP 20-07 Task 232 Development of Guide to Update Development of a Guide to Update ADA Transition Plans. Telephone and email interviews with with selected individuals were a basis for confirming and describing the state of practice and best practices with respect to asset inventory, asset condition assessment, and asset improvement programming.
Products: The contractor's final report, ADA Compliance at Transportation Agencies: A Review of Practices, was delivered to AASHTO and may be obtained by clicking here (5 MB PDF file). (This document, prepared in January 2009, includes several corrections of notes in an earlier version referring to the sources of information presented.)
