For Bloomington-Normal disabled people, progress and challenges with accessibility

Nov. 22--BLOOMINGTON -- As a wheelchair user, Netia Carey, 57, knows what sidewalks and streets can be trouble for those with mobility issues. Carey has cerebral palsy and takes public transportation to get from the nursing home where she lives to a volunteer position at Life Center for Independent Living.

"I wouldn't rate Bloomington-Normal as being a totally accessible place," said Carey, an area resident for most of her life. "... Crossing streets can be hard because of high curbs. Cars are also not always willing to let us have the right of way -- and it's scary."

The year marks three decades since President George H.W. Bush signed into law the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that mandated virtually all public facilities be accessible for people with disabilities.

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Watch the video of President Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act:

See the July 1990 Pantagraph front page:

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The outcome has been a litany of alterations and features that are commonplace in everyday life today, from Braille on public signs and access ramps on buildings to widened bathroom stalls for wheelchairs.

And while progress has been made in many areas, both those with mobility issues and public officials say more needs to be done, especially with two specific spaces crucial for this population group: sidewalks and bus stops.

"The city and town public works departments have been working on this and that is something we need to applaud," said Conan Calhoun, a disability rights advocate for the Life Center.

Calhoun conducts audits of businesses, public buildings and sidewalks to gauge if the spaces are accessible to people with disabilities. His findings show many areas that are encouraging, he said.

But, Calhoun added, "We are very far behind compared to other cities."

'We can't do it all in one year'

The delays are the product of several overlapping factors, from updated regulations since the ADA was signed to issues with funding, which may become more pronounced as COVID stretches resources.

But perhaps the biggest factor is the sheer number of fixes needed, even three decades after Bush's bill-signing ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.

Case in point: Bloomington alone has 423 miles of sidewalks that are going to be improved as part of a sidewalk master plan. That's 423 miles of curbs, ramps and signs -- the equivalent distance from Bloomington to Little Rock, Arkansas, in a straight line.

That volume is one reason why Bloomington is only about halfway through its sidewalk master plan adopted five years ago. Work also has been slowed by weather, costs and disrepair from use.

There are plenty of variables with each sidewalk, said Kevin Kothe, a 32-year veteran of the Bloomington Public Works Department, where he is now director.

"The sidewalk work may be as simple as having a company come in and grind the sidewalk where there is vertical displacement that creates a barrier for somebody in a wheelchair or using a walker or cane," he said. "The corner ramps are very critical for ADA accessibility and those are quite a bit more expensive to take care of, but it is something that is required when we do surface work."

About $1 million is set aside every year for improvements, but there's still a long way to go. In fact, it's difficult to even calculate an end date, he said.

"There's a lot of miles of sidewalk in Bloomington -- and we can't do it all in one year," he said.

One complicating factor is the current fiscal outlook. COVID-19 means fewer people are driving, which diminishes motor fuel tax receipts, the fund that pays for fixes. Kothe projects that could have an impact on many are completed each year.

"The goal of the city is going to be to have accessible pedestrian accommodations, and we will keep working on it until we are done -- and we may never be done," Kothe said.

That's partially because the rules literally keep changing. Several amendments have passed to increase physical accessibility. Officials say keeping up with the alterations can sometimes delay improvement projects.

"One of the main things that has changed is what we call the 'detectable warning strip,'" said Normal Town Engineer Ryan Otto, referring to the raised circles seen on sidewalk ramps.

ADA standards used a different pattern, but updated practices call for additional detection to help people who can't see well find where the ramp starts.

Otto said about 30% of sidewalks have been inspected using a scale the town uses, and most fall into the "fairly good" category.

"In general, our sidewalks are in serviceable condition in most places," he said. "We are working to assess the condition of the sidewalks and upgrade all our ramps to ADA compliant accessibility."

'Not simply a mobility issue'

About one in four America adults have a disability and about 22% in Illinois do. Typically, larger concentrations of disabled people are found in urban areas, in part because of access to public transportation. By 2050, it is expected that about 6.25 billion people, 15% of whom are persons with disabilities, will be urban dwellers, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Normal Town Councilwoman Karyn Smith, an advocate for accessible programs and services for people with disabilities, said a big-picture approach needs to be taken with public transportation.

"It's an issue if you've got a bus stop across a busy intersection and the bus is traveling northbound, but your stop requires you to cross the street," Smith said, adding that "it's not simply a mobility issue."

Landmark Drive in Normal is one example. The street has two stops near Visa Drive, but only one side has a walkway. Smith, a Normal council member, said one side of the stop is only a bed of gravel, poses a particularly challenging issue for people with wheelchairs.

"For obvious reasons, you cannot get a wheelchair up along the gravel bed. It's not just a simple, 'We'll grate this area and slap down some concrete," she said. "It's going to take some engineering effort to carve out that sidewalk area."

Otto said that area is scheduled for repairs in the spring.

"We will make sure town residents can get to where they need to go no matter how they get around," said Otto. "We're working hard to make sure our sidewalks are rated and we continue to increase funding for our sidewalks each year."

Connect Transit in 2018 also set a goal of getting all 463 bus stops ADA compliant by 2024. A 2017 inspection of stops found some shortcomings, said Mark Peterson, the agency's interim manager.

"The biggest problem was there was no good way to get from the stop to the bus because there was no hard surface path to get to the curb," he said.

He said that was largely due to changed routes and moving into areas that previously did not have bus stops, creating more gaps.

"That created more inaccessible bus stops," said Peterson. "In some cases, we didn't even have them and we had to create them."

Since then, 145 bus stops have been brought up to meet standards. Upgrading one bus stop can cost about $7,000, depending on whether new shelters, lights or ramps are needed.

The Illinois Department of Transportation also awarded $9.92 million to Connect Transit through Gov. J.B. Prtizker's Rebuild Illinois capital program. A total of $516,000 is for improving or upgrading 196 stops.

Last year, the Connect Transit board formed the Connect to the Future Work Group to work on community engagement.

Smith, the Normal council member, has been following the progress and has heard criticisms her constituents have about the pace of improvements.

"One of the major frustrations is with the slowness the bus stops are being made fully accessible," she said.

She also pointed to concerns about the placement of stops, including some not close enough to hospital doors. Each bus stop must go under a design and engineering phase, which includes coordinating with municipalities and other property owners.

Peterson said improvements are being made and it is a focus.

"The good news is that we're getting there," Peterson said. "We're making progress."

Checking the progress

The progress is being monitored by people like Calhoun, the disability rights advocate, who utilizes various techniques to determine problems areas.

Last week in downtown Bloomington, he demonstrated how he uses a white and red cane to check if an area is difficult for people who have difficultly seeing. Calhoun, who been with the Life Center since 2018, is visually impaired but doesn't use a cane normally.

Calhoun said it can sometimes be difficult for change to happen quickly. And there are sometimes errors in judgement, too, he said.

For example, the recent loss of handicapped-accessible parking spaces in downtown Bloomington to accommodate outdoor dinning did not encourage disabled people to drive downtown and eat during during the pandemic, he said.

"I applaud the work Bloomington-Normal has done so far, but we still have a ways to go," he said. "The conversation about accessibility is 30 years in the making."

Carey also said she appreciates the energy being put on accessibility. Getting to certain bus stops in her wheelchair remains a major obstacle, she said.

Carey volunteers at Life Center in her spare time because the group's mission to help people with disabilities hits close to home.

"I was born with cerebral palsy," she said. "So helping people going through the same thing as me and being able to put a smile on their face that wasn't there before I came in is always my goal."

Said Carey: "I just want everyone to know that people with disabilities just want to be treated like everybody else. We do have a voice and we want to be heard."

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Contact Analisa Trofimuk at (309) 820-3244. Follow her on Twitter: @AnalisaTro

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