Title
Recommendation to Endorse the City of Alameda Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan.
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Commission on Persons with Disabilities
From: Erin Smith, Public Works Director
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Alameda (City) is committed to providing accessible programs, services, and facilities for people with disabilities. The City is also committed to complying with regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which require local governments to assess their services, policies, and practices as part of a Self-Evaluation; to modify any policies or practices that discriminate against people with disabilities; and to develop a Transition Plan identifying any physical changes to facilities that are necessary to achieve “program access.”
In 2022, the City retained the consulting firm Bureau Veritas to perform a comprehensive evaluation of City programs and services, public buildings and parks, and pedestrian facilities in the right of way. This information was prepared, with public input, as a Transition Plan to serve as the roadmap and City commitment to improved accessibility.
Following extensive public engagement in developing the draft plan, staff recommend this Commission endorse the City’s ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan (ADA Plan) included as Exhibit 1 with the appendices as Exhibit 2. With the Commission’s endorsement, staff will seek City Council’s approval of the ADA Plan, a crucial step in ensuring the City’s ongoing commitment to an accessible and inclusive community.
BACKGROUND
The City is committed to providing accessible programs, services, and facilities for people with disabilities. The City is also committed to complying with the requirements of the ADA Title II, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities, and that no qualified individual shall be excluded from participation in or be denied benefits of services, programs and activities. The City is mandated by ADA Title II to evaluate each service, program and activity provided, when viewed in its entirety, to be readily accessible and usable by persons with disabilities.
The City is required by regulations under Title II of the ADA to assess its services, policies, and practices as part of a Self-Evaluation; to modify any policies or practices that discriminate against people with disabilities; and to develop a Transition Plan identifying any physical changes to facilities that are necessary to achieve “program access.”
In 2008 the City completed an evaluation of building facilities for ADA compliance. Although some of the barriers identified were removed, the evaluation was never formally prepared as a Transition Plan or adopted by City Council. In 2022, the City retained the consulting firm Bureau Veritas to perform a comprehensive evaluation of City programs, services, buildings, parks and pedestrian facilities in the right of way, and to prepare this information, with public input, as a Transition Plan to serve as the roadmap and City commitment to barrier removal.
DISCUSSION
The ADA Plan consists of the following main components:
• Public input and engagement;
• Evaluation of City Buildings and Parks (ex. City Halls, Libraries, Parks, Parking Lots, etc);
• Evaluation of pedestrian facilities in the right of way (ex. sidewalks, pathways, curb ramps, and accessible pedestrian signals);
• Evaluation of City programs and services; and
• The Transition Plan, a prioritized roadmap towards improving accessibility
Public Input and Engagement
Public input was an essential component in developing the ADA Plan. The objectives for public outreach included:
• Providing the public with information on the City’s responsibilities regarding ADA generally and specifically on the Self Evaluation and Transition Plan development process;
• Sharing with the community the results of the evaluation;
• Learning from the community where they experience barriers to accessibility;
• Hearing from the community on how they prefer to prioritize barrier removal;
• Discussing the City’s processes for removing barriers to accessibility; and
• Meeting Title II requirements for public comment opportunity;
Outreach to encourage input included a news release, social media postings, a survey, in person and online public meetings, and a City web page. Staff also presented at this Commission in the early planning stages to invite feedback on the general planning approach. More recently, presentations were made at the Recreation and Parks and Transportation Commissions. Lastly, a draft plan for public comment during the month of May. Feedback was considered and incorporated into this ADA Plan, which staff are now seeking endorsement on.
Input received at the various public meetings and the survey results were informative and used as a factor in prioritizing barrier removal in the Transition Plan. In addition, the ADA Plan addresses the following specific feedback received from this Commission this past December:
• Created a new ADA email distribution list for future outreach (over 400 subscribers already).
• Identified a schedule to address the recommendations for improving the accessibility of City programs and services.
• Shared comments that came in from the survey with the responsible party, if not the City.
City Buildings and Parks
58 City sites (ex. City Halls, Libraries, Administration Buildings, Parks, Parking Lots, etc) were assessed. A Bureau Veritas Subject Matter Expert assessed the amenities at each facility in accordance with the ADA and State of California Building Code. Both interior and exterior amenities at each facility were assessed including, but not limited to, parking, accessible routes, floor surfaces, space allowances, stairs, elevators and signage. A detailed ADA Facility Assessment Report was prepared for each site and is available upon request. The ADA Plan includes a summary list of barriers at each site. A total of 2,884 barriers were identified across all sites assessed.
Pedestrian Facilities in the Public Right-of-Way
2,862 curb ramps, 90 signalized intersections, 220 miles of sidewalk and 22.6 miles of pathways were evaluated using the Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) and the California Building Code.
For sidewalks and pathways, cross slope, running slope, surface smoothness, and vertical changes in level were documented. Data collection for curb ramps included running slope, cross slope, flare slope, landing slope, clearance width, presence of a detectable warning, among other attributes. Also noted are locations where there should be a curb ramp but there is not.
At the City’s 89 signalized intersections the following was documented: presence of pedestrian signal heads with a countdown displays, presence of accessible pedestrian signals (APS) with functional audible and vibrotactile tones.
City Programs and Services
An interdepartmental review and assessment of City policies and practices related to the following areas was conducted:
• Community Based Programs and Activities
• Housing
• Personnel and Internal Policies, Human Resources
• ADA Coordinator
• Public Notice of the ADA
• Grievance Procedure
• General Effective Communication (Auxiliary Aids and Services)
• Website Accessibility
• Emergency Management
Findings from the review are included in the ADA Plan with recommendations to improve accessibility to City programs and services in the Transition Plan.
The Transition Plan
It is not possible to address all accessibility barriers at once. The goal of the Transition Plan is to ultimately ensure that programs, services, and opportunities offered by the City are accessible to the community, regardless of ability, yet provide a realistic implementation plan given the City’s fiscal capabilities and staffing capacity.
To ensure we have the right resources in place to oversee implementation of this important work, a vacant position in the Public Works Department is proposed to be elevated to an ADA Coordinator job classification. Assuming this gets approved in the Fiscal Year 2024/25 budget, the City will recruit an ADA Coordinator and hope to have the new hire in place in early 2025. The City’s Public Works Director will continue to serve in this role in the interim.
The Transition Plan organizes barrier removal at City buildings and parks into five phases with each phase’s funding considered by City Council as part of City’s two-year budget process. To comply with the ADA as the phases are implemented, requests from persons with disabilities experiencing a barrier will always be prioritized.
The Transition Plan phases are intended to prioritize public amenities that are in highest demand. They also consider usage levels, amenity uniqueness, site safety, social equity, public input, and other inputs. A primary goal is to optimize the use of available funds to provide access to public amenities that matter most to the public. The 2,884 barriers identified across all sites assessed have an estimated cost for barrier removal in current dollars of $7.6M.
Work to remove barriers identified in the public right of way will primarily take place through the City’s existing Pavement Management, Sidewalk Repair, Signal Operations and Park Pathway Repair and Replacement programs. A new program will be established and launched in fiscal year 2024/25 focused specifically on curb ramp accessibility. Funding will be from Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. At least $300,000 is secured for the initial year of the new program. In subsequent years, the program will competitively pursue use of the City’s allotment of funding for non-housing public improvements.
The ADA Plan contains a priority framework, summarized below, for improving pedestrian accessibility in the right of way. The street classifications noted below are from the City’s General Plan.
Highest Priority
• Improve sidewalks on Main Streets, around City Sites and Parks and in Socially Vulnerable Neighborhoods:
• Missing curb ramps Citywide
• Repair/replace Island and Mecartney Drive Pathways
• Missing pedestrian signal heads and/or missing accessible pedestrian signals
Next Highest Priority
• Improve sidewalks on Local Streets:
• Tripping hazards on pathways/trails
• Curb ramps with an accessibility score of 1-2 Citywide
• Pedestrian countdown display and accessible pedestrian signals without an audible tone.
Third Highest Priority
• Improve sidewalks on Neighborhood Connectors, Gateway and Business Commercial Streets
• Pathways/trails replacement
• Curb ramps with an accessibility score of 3-4 Citywide
The Self Evaluation identified several areas where the City can enhance accessibility in its programs and services. Specific recommendations are made in the Transition Plan to address each finding. For example, the City should establish a policy to standardize investigations into all ADA complaints. And the City should regularly enlist people with a variety of disabilities to test the City website for accessibility and ease of use. The recommendations for more accessible City programs and services will be implemented over the next three years. The fiscal year each recommendation will be addressed is included in the Transition Plan. The new ADA Coordinator will establish and lead an interdepartmental ADA Task Force that meets regularly and whose primary focus will be to address the programmatic recommendations.
The City's ADA Transition Plan will be a living document that is regularly reviewed and updated. The City's ADA Coordinator will serve as the primary point of contact for ADA compliance and will coordinate with all City departments and members of the community. As facilities, programs, services and activities are brought into compliance, the results of those efforts will be reported regularly to this Commission.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Development of the ADA Plan cost $401,500. Funding was appropriated to the City Buildings Capital Improvement Program Project C41000 with monies allocated from the Facility Replacement Internal Service Fund and General Fund.
City Council appropriated $1,250,000 in General Funds in the FY2023/24 and FY2024/25 capital budget for ADA improvements. This will be applied to Phase 1 of the City building and parks plan. Other sources of appropriated funds in the FY2023/24 and FY2024/25 budget for Phase 1 barrier removal will come from the Facilities Internal Service Funds, General Fund for the Civic Center Parking Garage Improvement Project and Transportation Improvement Funds for the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal This is in addition to funding available under other routine capital programs that address barrier removal in the right of way such as Pavement Management, Sidewalk Repair, Curb Ramp Accessibility and Signal Modernization.
Staff will propose additional funding requests for City Council consideration as part of forthcoming biennial budgets.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
General Plan Policy OS-5 Accessibility For All. Continue to upgrade parks, trails, and community facilities to ensure accessibility and inclusivity for all residents.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this action is categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15262 - Feasibility and Planning Studies.
An ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Transition Plan is Plan #2 referenced in the City’s Strategic Plan.
Project TIE14 in the City’s Strategic Plan is to, “Implement ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) plan for City programs, facilities, parks, streets, and sidewalks.”
CLIMATE IMPACT
Transportation generates over 70% of the greenhouse emissions in Alameda. Improving pedestrian accessibility and safety not only enhances accessibility, it supports non-carbon emitting modes of transportation and the use of transit, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the City’s transportation sector.
In addition, vulnerable populations will disproportionately bear the brunt of climate impacts. As disasters increase in frequency and duration, the need for city services to support vulnerable residents will increase. The ADA Plan identifies strategies to ensure the City is considering accessibility in emergency management planning.
Respectfully submitted,
Erin Smith, Public Works Director
Exhibits:
1. ADA Plan
2. ADA Plan Appendices
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