Portland is preparing to settle a class action legal dispute with mobility-disabled residents by agreeing to upgrade more than 16,000 sidewalk ramps at a cost of $113 million over the next 12 years.
The settlement, if approved Wednesday by the City Council, promises to change how Portland builds and maintains sidewalks – changes that are likely to affect wide swaths of the city as sidewalk improvements are made. For example, the city pledged to create 1,500 curb cuts a year, more than double the current rate of about 700 a year.
Copies of the settlement proposal and a projection of its financial impact were released Thursday to The Oregonian/OregonLive in response to a public records request. The projected cost of upgrading sidewalks is $113 million, or about $10 million a year.
The financial statement notes that the city is short on the settlement liability by $52 million. A spokesman for Mayor Ted Wheeler said the city has multiple funding sources to draw upon to meet the settlement liability, adding that a financing plan is still under development.
Wheeler has set aside $2.5 million in his proposed 2019 budget for upgrades to ramps on 455 corners. The council also approved $10.5 million for curb cuts as part of a bond issuance adopted earlier this year.
As part of the settlement, the city will also survey every street corner for compliance, install proper sidewalk cutouts when constructing new roads and walkways and appoint a technical adviser to oversee the work.
City officials reached the tentative agreement after three wheelchair or scooter users complained the city wasn't complying with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Curb ramps play a central role in the lives of people who rely on mobility devices, advocates say, and their construction is regulated by the ADA. Without proper ramps, people who use wheelchairs can be forced to travel on the sides of crowded roadways, reroute themselves or get stuck trying to traverse grassy or muddy areas.
In addition to stepping up its work to make sidewalks accessible to people who use scooters, walkers and wheelchairs, the city agreed to pay each plaintiff a small personal sum plus attorneys' fees. The city is not required to admit wrongdoing, according to the proposed agreement.
An attorney for the plaintiffs, Linda Dardarian, said Thursday that the proposed settlement marks a huge achievement for people who rely on wheelchairs and other mobility devices. "It means that people with mobility disabilities will no longer have to ride in the street," said Dardarian, who is based in Oakland, Calif.
Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who runs the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the city agency charged with fixing sidewalk ramps, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Many cities struggle with requirements in federal law to build and maintain accessible curb cuts. But Portland is a particularly egregious offender. Of the city's more than 37,000 street corners, less than half have a curb cutout as of 2012, according to a Portland Bureau of Transportation webpage.
Implementing the settlement is subject to approval by the city council, the plaintiffs and a federal judge. If approved, priority will be given to improvement of corners at government buildings, schools, parks, transportation centers, hospitals and business areas.
-- Gordon R. Friedman
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