Timothy R. Mitros, P.E.

October 28, 2002

Timothy R. Mitros, P.E.
Senior Civil Engineer
Department of Public Works - City Engineering
Colorado Springs, Colorado


COMMENTS CONCERNING DRAFT ADA GUIDELINES

New Construction (1102.1)
Parts of Colorado Springs, as well as many other Cities are quite hilly. In these areas of town it is quite common to have residential streets up to 12%. Because of this I recommend there be a cut off as what is considered an accessible route versus what is not. (I recommend 5%). Streets greater than 5% I still recommend putting in sidewalks and pedestrian ramps to serve pedestrians, bikes, strollers, and those wheel chair users that can navigate steep grades. The ramps would be no steeper than the grade of the street.

Cross Slope (1103.4) & (1104.2.2.2)
Where a route is considered accessible (where streets are less than 5%), I agree the cross slope should not be greater that 1:48 (2%). In hilly terrain, getting cross slopes less than 1:48 may be physically impossible. If sidewalks were flattened in hillside intersections to meet this criteria, steeper grades would be required on the remainder of the street.

Grade(1103.5)
As mentioned above, streets that are considered accessible versus those that are not should be 5%.

Detectable Warnings (1104.3.2)
If detectable warnings are required they should only be used where the ramp slope is 1:15 or less.

Roundabouts (1105.6)
I recommend further research be done in this area. Signals at roundabouts will be counter-productive. How is pedestrian traffic handled in other parts of the world (Europe) where there are a lost more pedestrians and roundabouts are the norm?