Richmond Heights ADA Transition Plan

Richmond Heights is a community of nearly 10,000 people with residential, shopping and commercial districts. For this project, Oates developed an administrative policy and prepared a Transition Plan to address Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for compliance.  The scope of work also included the evaluation and assessment of sidewalks, curb ramps and pedestrian signals within the public right-of-way as well as three City owned facilities.  A geographic information system (GIS) database was prepared and incorporated into the City’s existing GIS network.  Oates inventoried 40 miles of sidewalks and curb ramps as part of the development of the ADA Transition Plan.

Oates and the City engaged advocates for the disability community to gather feedback on the travel habits and greatest impact to pedestrian travel. Residents of the Richmond Heights were engaged through a public survey that gathered feedback on not only how the pedestrian network is used throughout the City but also asked residents to identify obstructions that currently limit their ability to use the pedestrian network.  This data was used to identify a hierarchy of pedestrian trip generators within GIS (such as schools, public buildings, parts, shopping centers, etc.).  Evaluation criteria was also developed to categorize the severity of each individual deficiency at a given sidewalk segment or curb ramp.

Individual planning level cost estimates were divided for each sidewalk segment and curb ramp. The City of Richmond Heights will use this data to develop future sidewalk improvements in addition to coordinating pedestrian improvements with other construction projects underway within the City, including their pavement resurfacing program.

Accessibility reports were prepared for each City owned facility, which identified all deficiencies associated with access to City services including parking lots, pedestrian facilities, internal and external doorways, toilet facilities, drinking fountains and other miscellaneous features. The report included identifying the ADA deficiency, potential improvements and an estimate of probable cost to bring the feature into compliance.