What's Happening
Pierce County is developing its Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan for Public Rights-of-Way. This plan will guide us as we bring pedestrian facilities—including sidewalks, curb ramps, pedestrian push buttons and driveway entrances—located in the public right-of-way into compliance with the ADA.
A 30-day public comment period for the draft ADA Transition Plan is expected to run from Aug. 1-30. The draft plan and details on how to comment will be available when the comment period begins.
Background
Pierce County is required under Title II of the ADA to develop a Self-Evaluation Report
(Title II 28 CFR § 35.105). Pierce County completed our
Americans with Disabilities Act Public Rights-of-Way Self-Evaluation Report in October 2015. We evaluated county services, policies and practices for compliance with the ADA. We also conducted an inventory of existing facilities to evaluate compliance.
We reached out to the public through public meetings, stakeholder groups and an online survey to determine which types of defects pose the biggest impact to accessibility, and which locations are most important for the public to be able to reach without barriers to access.
About the ADA Transition Plan
Pierce County is required to develop an ADA Transition Plan
(Title II 28 CFR § 35.150) that outlines how Pierce County will bring non-compliant pedestrian facilities into compliance.
The plan includes:
- How facilities will be evaluated and prioritized
- How much it will cost to improve each type of facility and how the work will be funded
- A timeline for improvements
- Design standards and procedure improvements to achieve compliance for new infrastructure
Once the public comment period ends, Pierce County staff will review the feedback and submit the draft plan to the Pierce County Council for consideration and adoption. The plan will be updated every five years to track progress, refine prioritization methods, and update program costs. Each update will include a public comment period.