Kicking It to the Curbs

By Matt Wood in News on Oct 30, 2006 4:52PM

The city has been re-examining curbs around town to make sure they comply with standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The law specifies a maximum 2 percent slope on ramps, but many sidewalks around the city had been simply cut to fit the existing conditions, no matter the height of the curb. Crews are now replacing curb cuts and the surrounding sidewalks everywhere to make the grade, after the Council for Disability Rights filed a lawsuit last fall. Most of the repairs will come at taxpayers' expense, but that's because they should have been doing it right in the first place. The ADA has only been on the books for 15 years.

Chicagoist had noticed a number of sidewalk repairs around our own neighborhood, including adding those nifty reddish-brown traction pads on the ramps, and now we know the reason for the sudden rash of civic improvements. It's a boon for wheelchair users and parents, grandmas, 14-year-olds, homeless people, and cyclists alike, because it also makes smoother traveling for strollers, bubbi carts, skateboards, shopping carts carrying all your worldly belongings, and one of this site's favorite hot-button topics, bikes on sidewalks. Let the urban cycling flame war begin!