Project Overview

The federal legislation known as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides comprehensive civil rights protections to persons with disabilities in the areas of employment, state and local government services, and access to public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. The ADA specifically requires public entities with more than 50 employees that have responsibility for streets and sidewalks to conduct a Self Evaluation and create a Transition Plan that identifies the steps needed to bring the pedestrian infrastructure under their authority into compliance. It is possible that federal funding can be withheld without a Transition Plan completed or underway.

A key goal of the Village of Mount Prospect is to develop an ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan.  The development of such a plan is a two-fold, future-thinking document. The Self Evaluation portion of the plan assesses how well the Village’s transportation system such as sidewalks, curb ramps, pedestrian signals, and crosswalks comply with the ADA. The Self Evaluation looks at existing policies and programs related to accessibility, engages with the public, and inventories transportation infrastructure to identify barriers and opportunities for improvement. The Transition Plan prioritizes, estimates costs, plans and drafts a schedule to make the improvements identified in the Self Evaluation.

The Village is working with DLZ Illinois, Inc. (DLZ) of Chicago, Illinois. They put together a very strong project team with extensive experience developing ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plans. They are well-informed of the latest ADA updates and have the capability to navigate the complex process to accomplish a comprehensive ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan.  They have provided professional services to many clients around the country and in Illinois including the Illinois Department of Transportation and several nearby communities. 

Schedule 

The ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan is a multi-year approach. The village staff has broken down the process into four phases as described below:

Phase I Tasks – to be completed with this contract
  • Appoint an ADA coordinator and person(s) responsible for conducting the Self Evaluation and implementing the Transition Plan
  • Review and update the Village’s grievance procedure and ADA policies/programs
  • Engage the community and stakeholders
  • Create a GIS-based data collection program of Village assets for future Self Evaluation
  • Train Village staff to use the data collection program
  • Develop the Transition Plan framework
This phase will take approximately six months to complete.  It is anticipated the accomplishments of Phase I will be presented to the Transportation Safety Commission and Village Board of Trustees the first quarter 2022.

Phase II Tasks – 2022
  • Conduct a comprehensive inspection of Village assets including curb ramps, sidewalk segments, crosswalks, and pedestrian signals (Self Evaluation)
In an effort to reduce costs, the Village plans to collect the necessary data with its own personnel utilizing the GIS-based data collection program created by the consultant.  This phase will take approximately twelve months to complete.

Phase III Tasks – 2023
  • Develop the priorities, costs, plan and schedule for physical improvements
  • Complete the Transition Plan report
This phase will require the assistance of an engineering consultant and take approximately six months to complete.  Upon completion, the Transition Plan will be presented to the Transportation Safety Commission and Village Board of Trustees.

Phase IV Tasks – 2024 and beyond
  • Implement the Transition Plan; e.g. construct/replace sidewalk, curb ramps, crosswalks, and pedestrian signals in order to be in compliance with the ADA
This phase may take many years to complete based on the implementation schedule.  The schedule will need to be periodically reviewed and updated in the future.   

Community Engagement

The Village would like to hear from you! Please take a moment to scan the QR code below, click this link, or print the ADA written survey. You may return the written survey to any Village facility, such as Village Hall, Public Works, or the Police Headquarters. You may also stop by any of the facilities mentioned above to pick up and fill out a copy of the ADA written survey. Twitter