Good morning and happy New Year. State and local governments and municipalities are required to comply with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/titleII_2010/titleII_2010_regulations.htm)
and the Olmstead Community Integration mandates. State Departments of Transportation and their related city departments of transportation are responsible for providing functional shared use sidewalks
and accessible path of travel of those sidewalks in accordance to Title II of the ADA. To learn more about the technical requirements of accessible sidewalks and path of travel, please visit the United States Access Board website and their resources:
https://www.access-board.gov/guidelines-and-standards/streets-sidewalks.
Additionally, the City of Philadelphia was sued by their advocates in 2018 for the poor maintenance of their sidewalks and alleging Title II ADA violations of citizens with disabilities
due to the fact that this population is experiencing disparate treatment and discrimination because they are unable to utilize the sidewalks safely to effectively access services, programs and activities that are available along these sidewalks’ path of travel:
·
https://www.inquirer.com/news/disabled-access-ada-sidewalk-streets-philadelphia-curbs-20190826.html
If the New Mexico advocates and their families are having difficulties convincing their city council members and DOT officials to comply with Title II of the ADA and the Olmstead
Community Integration Mandates, the NM DDC members may want to align themselves with Disability Rights NM and other legal advocates to develop an initiative to make the public sidewalks in New Mexico a compliance and programmatic priority for the NM Department
of Transportation and their city departments of transportation in the future.
Hope these resources are helpful and extend my warm hellos to my fellow DDC Directors and staff across the nation. For those who don’t know me, I am the former DDC Director (2010-2017)
in Washington, DC, until my dear friend and colleague, Alison Whyte took over. For those who do know, I miss you guys! And yes, I still get NACDD’s emails! Hence, my response to Alice’s inquiry.
Best of luck in 2020 and keep on rockin’ in the free world!
Bet wishes, Mat
Thank you and best wishes,
Mathew McCollough, Director
Office of Disability Rights
Government of the District of Columbia
Office: 202.727.6744
Mobile: 202.341.4012
TRS: 711
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From: xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com [mailto:xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com]
On Behalf Of McCoy, AliceLiu, DDPC
Sent: Thursday, January 2, 2020 5:33 PM
To: 'xxxxxx@nacdd.simplelists.com'
Subject: DD Councils Inaccessible Sidewalks & State Action
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Esteemed directors:
Does anyone have information about what, if anything, can be done at the state level either legislatively or through the executive to force cities and municipalities to make
their sidewalks accessible? We know the DOJ is supposed to enforce ADA requirements and plaintiffs can file ADA lawsuits, but does anyone know of any actions that can be taken at the state level?
Thank you for your time and expertise. I sincerely hope you enjoyed your holidays immensely!
Alice
Alice Liu McCoy
Executive Director
625 Silver Ave SW, Ste 100
Albuqerque, NM 87102
(505) 841-4575