Posts Tagged ‘ada’

Are Your Parks Accessible to All?


Parks serve several important purposes within a community. They provide access to programs such as sports and education, health benefits from exercise and access to nature, and an opportunity for socialization and community involvement. Frequently though, accessibility for persons with disabilities is overlooked or does not meet current standards, limiting the enjoyment of park benefits for some members of our communities. However, there are many opportunities to improve accessibility. These opportunities may be ideal for local community groups wishing to sponsor park improvement on limited funding, park maintenance staff work, or integration with larger park projects.

Opportunity 1 – Create Accessible Routes: Accessible routes are a critical component to providing access for park users. These routes are required to be firm, stable, and slip resistant and should provide connection between all areas of activity, such as parking, ball fields, trail heads, shelters, etc. Projects could include installation of sidewalks, asphalt paths, or pathways of select compacted stabilized aggregates. Additionally, exterior ramps with handrails and landings can be constructed to improve access to raised areas currently served by stairs, such as shelters and performance platforms.

Opportunity 2 – Improve Athletic Facility Access: Accessible routes should connect to the boundaries of fields and courts. (Note that the actual area of sport activity itself is exempt from a number of requirements so as to not change the nature of the activity.) Wheelchair seating is required in player seating areas. This can be as simple as adding the appropriate size paved space within an existing unpaved seating area or removing segments of fixed benches to accommodate space needed for a person’s wheelchair. At bleacher seating, wheelchair spaces, aisle seats, and connections to accessible routes are also required based on the seating capacity. If you have a public announcement/audio amplification system, consider providing assistive listening devices for park users with hearing impairments. These simple fixes allow everyone to be included in the park programming and share the experiences!

Opportunity 3 – Ensure Site Furnishings are Accessible: Nearly every park has some type of site furnishings, such as benches, picnic tables, grills, trash cans, and drinking fountains. Related projects could include connecting them to the nearest accessible route, providing clear, level ground spaces at picnic tables, grills, ends of benches, and at approaches to trash cans and drinking fountains. Upgrade old drinking fountains; a minimum of 2 are required to provide access to both standing persons and wheelchair users, with different heights and dimensional requirements for each.

Opportunity 4 – Provide Clear and Concise Information through Signage: The International Symbol of Accessibility (ISA) is easily recognizable and communicates which areas of your facility are compliant. The ISA can be used to identify dedicated parking spaces and accessible restrooms. This symbol also provides direction to accessible routes and building entrances, making it easier for persons with disabilities to find the most convenient and useable areas of your park or facility. Trail signage can be added to identify trail conditions and level of difficulty so users may make informed decisions on how to recreate safely. Most signage is subject to requirements for mounting heights, font types, sizes, and contrast, so be sure to check the guidelines when designing new signage.

In addition to utilizing experienced design professionals on your projects, the U.S. Access Board is a great resource for your community. As stated on their website, the Access Board is an independent federal agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities through leadership in accessible design and the development of accessibility guidelines and standards. Their website (https://www.access-board.gov/) provides many avenues to get clarification and specific technical requirements of the items above, such as complete texts of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards and guidelines, webinars, animations, research data, newsletters on accessibility topics, and more.

A key point to remember is that better accessibility expands the park experience for all. It improves ease of physical access, whether you are a person using a wheelchair or other mobility device, parents with strollers, or those of us just loaded down with kids’ sports gear and picnic supplies. Most importantly, increased accessibility fosters inclusion and equality for persons of all ages and abilities.

Are you ADA compliant?

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that all governmental agencies perform a self-evaluation (SE) of their facilities to determine compliance with applicable ADA standards. Those governmental agencies with 50 or more employees also are required to prepare a transition plan to identify the steps they will take to correct non-compliant issues and to ensure access to their programs for persons with disabilities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 1 in 5 Americans has a disability, and that number is expected to increase as the baby-boomer generation enters retirement age.

Passed in 1990, the ADA requires completion of the self-evaluation and transition plan (SETP), a requirement that few governmental entities did, and those that did perform a SETP, have not updated or implemented their plan. Due to low compliance and the increasing need for accessibility, some states have gone so far as to issue mandates that governmental entities must have a compliant SETP to remain eligible for federal funding. Threatened with the prospect of losing funding for road, bridge, and other vital projects, communities took notice and had to determine how they could preserve funding by meeting their ADA compliance obligations.

The 2010 mandate in Indiana led to DLZ’s assisting dozens of clients with a variety of ADA compliance services. DLZ sponsored full-day seminars in Indianapolis, South Bend, and Fort Wayne to provide information about the ADA compliance requirements for governmental entities, including towns, cities, and counties. DLZ offered services ranging from training on how to collect SE data to as-needed consultation to full service SETP data collection and document preparation. The clients ranged in size from small rural towns to larger cities, such as Mishawaka, Elkhart, and Terre Haute.

More recently, a 2016 Tennessee mandate enabled DLZ to assist numerous client communities in East Tennessee, such as Maryville, Alcoa, Sevierville, Blount County, and Gatlinburg, with full-service ADA evaluation of their facilities, policies, and programs and preparing their transition plans. DLZ was invited to respond to a City of Sevierville Request for Qualifications (RFQ) at the 2017 National ADA Symposium in Chicago. Several other RFQs followed and DLZ teamed with a local Tennessee-based firm that is collecting data within the public right-of-way (curb ramps, sidewalks, pedestrian signals, transit stops, etc.).

DLZ’s team of planners, architects, engineers, landscape architects, and construction observers work cooperatively to assist our clients and to determine the unique facilities and programs each client needs to provide access to. DLZ’s professionals assist clients by working through a detailed scoping process to identify facilities and portions within each facility that need to be included in the self-evaluation. Areas that need to be included in the facility self-evaluation are all areas open to the public, as well as common-use employee areas such as break rooms, conference rooms, restrooms, locker rooms, etc. Areas excluded from the evaluation are private offices and other employee work areas, mechanical and electrical rooms, janitor closets, etc. The policies and procedures portion of the self-evaluation includes a review of personnel practices, websites, staff training, emergency preparedness, signage, and numerous documents or publications provided to the public. Our process is proven effective and tailored specifically to each client’s needs.

In addition to full SETP services, DLZ also has provided both governmental and private, commercial clients with ADA compliance evaluations for a variety of facilities. Our staff assesses compliance of building and site features, determines priority for corrective action based on the difficulty non-compliant features present, and when possible provides immediate and long-term solutions and cost estimates.

Our staff are recognized authorities on ADA standards and guidelines. DLZ has presented on various ADA topics at numerous conferences and seminars, including Purdue Road School, Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, Indiana Society of Professional Engineers, Michigan Public Transit Association, and Transport Chicago. To expand their knowledge and understanding of ADA issues, these same individuals also participate in ADA webinars and attend the National ADA Symposium, the largest, educational opportunity about ADA issues.

Let DLZ’s team of ADA specialists assist you with improving access to your facilities and with meeting your ADA compliance obligations.