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PEDS Prompts Georgia to Change Street Resurfacing Policy
| The Americans with Disability Act requires local and state agencies to make intersections accessible to all users when roads or sidewalks are constructed or altered. Routine maintenance, such as filling potholes or marking crosswalks, does not trigger ADA requirements.
 Transportation agencies, however, often
define maintenance more broadly than courts consider appropriate. When the Georgia Department of Transportation milled and resurfaced West Peachtree Street in April, for example, it didn't install curb ramps at locations where they were missing or upgrade ones that don't comply with current guidelines.
When PEDS challenged GDOT on this,
Director of Operations Bryant Poole explained that this was "preventative maintenance resurfacing." Because the project did not involve "road reconstruction," GDOT believed it did not trigger curb ramp requirements. In Kinney v. Yerusalim, the court rejected similar arguments made by the City of Philadelphia, so PEDS disagreed. Seeking resolution, PEDS requested clarification from the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Civil Rights.
Feds Confirm that "Mill and Fill" is not "Routine Maintenance"
In response to a letter from PEDS, the Director of FHWA's External Civil Rights Program confirmed that FHWA and the
Department of Justice consider resurfacing projects to be an "alteration" that
triggers ADA requirements. "We advise that while engineering arguments can be made to argue that 'mill and fill' resurfacing is not an alteration," Candace Groudine wrote, "the Yerusalim
court . . . ruled
against the conclusion of such arguments. Anyone wanting to challenge the
Yerusalim position on 'mill
and fill' projects needs to be prepared to be found in violation of Yerusalim,
and DOJ/FHWA policies following Yerusalim, and prepare to
defend such a position in court without DOJ/FHWA support."
GDOT promptly updated its resurfacing policy and plans to include curb ramps on all future resurfacing projects. PEDS commends Bryant Poole and others at GDOT for this great step forward. We're also encouraging the state to install ramps on sidewalks that lack them on roads that have been resurfaced since ADA became effective in 1992.
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Hazard Alert: Ill-fitting Water Meter Covers
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Recently installed meter lids break and flip, causing serious injuries
 Harriet, a woman in her mid-sixties, called recently after a water meter cover near the Fox Theater she had stepped on flipped, causing one of her legs to drop 17 inches into the meter box, injuring her legs, feet, body and hand. "All meters appeared to be closed," she explained. "However, there is enough of a gap that
anyone walking along could cause it to move." The ill-fitting cover Harriet stepped on is just one of many. The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported last year that an internal City of Atlanta audit found major problems in a $35 million program intended to equip over 150,000 water meters with electronic meter reading capabilities. A report by Leslie Ward, the City's auditor, stated that more than 75 percent of the new or refurbished meters sampled by auditors were damaged in some way or exhibited some other problem -- often because of a bad fit between the meter box and the lid.  In January 2008 Watershed Commissioner Rob Hunter said the contractor "will make good on work that should have been done correctly the first time around without additional costs to the city." PEDS has contacted e-mailed Mayor Franklin and others to ask what the City intends to do to get the contractor to follow through on that pledge. We're also promoting increased media attention to this problem. Meanwhile, take care to avoid stepping on water meter covers. Due to the bad fit, many function as little more than a trap door.
Please use PEDS online tool to report missing or broken water meter covers. The 3-year meter project is nearing completion, so the time to report these is NOW. |
| NEW: Monitor Neighborhood-wide Pedestrian Hazards | PEDS' Neighborhood Membership includes a new benefit: exclusive online access to view and download reports of pedestrian hazards in your neighborhood.
Here's how it works. When your neighborhood joins PEDS, we activate your unique Member Neighborhood Reports page using the email address for a neighborhood representative (example: safety@neighborhood.org). By logging in, you can see and download all the pedestrian hazards submitted in your neighborhood.
This new feature empowers neighborhood associations that have joined PEDS to hold government agencies accountable for fixing pedestrian hazards. Imagine inviting a local transportation engineer or city council representative to your neighborhood association meeting to discuss pedestrian safety. Now imagine producing a list of busted crosswalk buttons, dangling utility wires and broken sidewalks in your neighborhood that have remained uncorrected for months.
Ask your neighborhood association to join PEDS. Support from neighborhoods strengthen our political clout considerably. By joining PEDS, your neighborhood association will increase its ability to advocate for pedestrian needs in your community. |
Support PEDS!
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We can't stress enough how much your support means to us, especially in this tough economy. If you haven't done so already, please make a donation or renew your membership with PEDS. Your support fuels our efforts to make metro Atlanta communities, safe, inviting, and accessible for pedestrians.
Not yet a member? Join today
and add your voice to the hundreds of metro Atlantans who look to PEDS to make communities in metro Atlanta safer, more enjoyable places to walk.
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