The mayor’s committee on disability concerns inspects non ADA compliant crosswalks

While most crosswalks in Oklahoma City have new feature’s like bright flashing lights, audio commands, and ramps to assist people with disabilities, not all streets in the city are up to date which is potentially dangerous.

The mayor’s committee on disability concerns discussed this issue at their weekly meeting Wednesday morning. They said an engineering company reached out to them to check out an intersection they did not think was safe.

I went to one of the intersections discussed. There was no signal letting people know it was safe to cross, no push buttons, no audio telling individuals to wait, and only one side of the road had a ramp.

This limits who the public street is accessible to. It also puts people with disabilities in a dangerous position as they have to stay on the road with cars for longer, explained Title II of the ADA.

“Anyone with a mobility issue or I have elderly parents and just stepping up or off a curb can be a challenge if you don’t have good balance,” said OKC American with Disabilities Act coordinator Keith Wilkerson.

According to regulations following the ADA state and local governments must provide curb ramps anywhere a walkway intersects a curb. The curb ramps provided must follow specific standards for width, slope, cross slope, placement, and more. Following these standards, the intersection under review is not compliant with the ADA.

Wilkerson said while not all crosswalks are up to date yet, it’s a work in progress and they are getting there. He said accessibility is always a work in progress and it’s always at the top of the agenda.

“Geographically Oklahoma City is huge. So there’s a lot to do. We have a lot of streets but over the last 30 years we’ve really done a lot with sidewalks and trails but more importantly we’ve done a lot with accessibility.

If you know of any places that you don’t think are ADA compliant you can fill out the form to alert the committee here.