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ADA Sign
updated: Nov 09, 2012, 9:40 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

A subscriber wonders if this sign located between Monterey and Gillespie on Portosuello is ADA-compliant? It's been in this location for at least the last 4 years.

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Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 340945	2012-11-09 09:50 AM
If it's been there 4 years, I wonder if anyone cares
COMMENT 340951	2012-11-09 10:04 AM
I care, but wasn't sure who to contact at the City. It was annoying when walking our dog but when we started taking a stroller along with us it became a hazard. Is blocking the sidewalk worth just a sign that says "Bump"? What's worse is there are a dozen other speed bumps along Portesuello that don't need the cautionary sign. So whom do my anonymous neighbor and I call at the City?
COMMENT 340952	2012-11-09 10:07 AM
Amazing! Did you find that while texting?
COMMENT 340953	2012-11-09 10:09 AM
ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which attempts to ensure equal access to public areas and areas of employment to people with a range of physical disabilities. It is not a building code and is not enforced by anyone but the Department of Justice by lawsuit or settlement in federal court. If you feel strongly about this, you can get the complaint forms online to submit to DOJ. The local building standards code, in our case currently the 2010 California Building Code, contains in Chapter 11 the regulations for new work in accessible public areas, which would be 32" min. clear width at the pole (and max. 2% cross slope on the sidewalk). If it isn't wide enough you can complain to the city or county public works dept. since it is in the road right-of-way, and they may in fact listen since the threat of federal lawsuit is real and has been exercised many times.
COMMENT 340955	2012-11-09 10:10 AM
The sidewalk doesn't even look like it's ADA compliant even without the sign. Doesn't look that wide at all.
COMMENT 340956	2012-11-09 10:11 AM
It's especially bad when the construction trucks that park there block more of the sidewalk with their mirrors. What I find curious is that a City inspector is supposed to go out and look at the results of each project that is done in the City. When the inspection was done, either they didn't do their job or didn't care about this. Plus when other inspections were done for nearby projects, such as the recent Portesuello realignment at Modoc, the City Inspector missed it again. Maybe the inspectors need to be assigned a portion of the City, like a beat cop, and then they would care more about what happens in their assigned area?
COMMENT 340969P	2012-11-09 10:31 AM
I am pretty sure local governments are exempt from ADA.
COMMENT 340976	2012-11-09 10:36 AM
Do all speed bumps require signs?
COMMENT 340985P	2012-11-09 10:50 AM
Traffic sign law is federal law, regulated by the DOT (Department of Transportation), published in the MUTCD (Municipal Uniform Traffic Control Devices manual). Local governments are prohibited from installing signs that don't conform with the MUTCD. This sign doesn't conform with the MUTCD because it's not facing approaching traffic, but it's a warning sign that doesn't need to be there, so it's probably a moot point. The city of SB doesn't acknowledge the MUTCD, in any case, although it's the basis of the Homes on Wheels decision against the city in 2003. The MUTCD doesn't address pedestrian issues, but I'm sure SB city code includes restrictions on blocking sidewalks. It's surprising that no one has walked into this sign and injured themselves in 4 years - nuts!
COMMENT 340987P	2012-11-09 10:53 AM
Email the mayor, you can find her email address on the City of SB website. She responds quickly and will let you know who you would contact.
COMMENT 340991	2012-11-09 11:05 AM
Complaints like this ought to be directed to the Public Works Dept of the City where it can actually lead to a change, for better or worse. Complaining to the baker about the butcher is not going to get the butcher's attention.
COMMENT 341004	2012-11-09 11:34 AM
Call public works and ask. Let us know what they say.
COMMENT 341023	2012-11-09 12:17 PM
I've emailed the mayor about things like this before and never gotten a response. My emails to Jim Armstrong have been forwarded to department heads right away and they jump on it. In this case I have forwarded it to 2 people lower down in the City to see if they can direct me to the right people as I like to give them a chance to respond before siccing their bosses on them. Isn't the City closed on Fridays due to furloughs? Maybe won't get a response until next week.
COMMENT 341025	2012-11-09 12:18 PM
Inspectors are too busy playing golf. I was building a house and tried to get my inspections done in the afternoon - inspector said nope - had to be in the morning. I then see the same guy playing golf at Muni. I call his Supervisor to say WTF - and ends up he is also playing golf. I go up the ladder and get ahold of a guy in the Building Dept and tell them what has happened - never get a follow up call or anything. Government at its best.
COMMENT 341032P	2012-11-09 12:26 PM
Alot of the City sidewalks aren't ADA compliant. My personal favorite is the fact that after 110 years of putting in sidewalks, there are still places downtown with no sidewalks. The City must be too busy installing bulbouts to notice the missing sidewalks.
COMMENT 341036	2012-11-09 12:38 PM
Most nontourist sidewalks are non ADA compliant. Check some of the sidewalks around Cottage Hospital for example, buckles and fissures you measure in feet not inches. How someone with problems walking, in a walker or a wheelchair is expected to navigate these sidewalks is sadistic.
COMMENT 341038	2012-11-09 12:47 PM
That happens all over town - I watch a guy in a wheelchair every day try to navigate alamar between state & de la vina - he's out in the road for most of that part!
COMMENT 341116	2012-11-09 04:30 PM
classic example of the nanny state.........
COMMENT 341272	2012-11-10 09:42 AM
Some jackarse is probably going to try to sue the city. Go pound sand. Are you one of those people that looks for stuff like this and sues business owners? This ADA stuff is out of control.
COMMENT 341335	2012-11-10 12:09 PM
It's more vogue to design and build dangerous bulb outs than mere everyday sidewalks and the architects and designers can get a lot more taxpayers money for bulb-outs than plain old sidewalks. Heck they probably get more taxpayers' money "designing" speed bumps. I am sure you would be surprised at what the City pays for the "design" and "installation" of a speed bump or a "bulb-out"!
COMMENT 341498P	2012-11-10 06:09 PM
..."this ADA stuff is out of control"? Seriously? Someone with a baby in a stroller or who's in a wheelchair should have to go out into the street? City could mount a sign at the inner side of the narrow walkway.. Poor and slapdash installation. If you run into the Golfing Inspector thing again, and you get the runaround from their Supe, call the City Administrator's office. They should refer you to Personnel. CC to Council members. You pay their salaries.
COMMENT 341898	2012-11-12 10:12 AM
341335 - I find it funny that you continually add the word "dangerous" in front of bulb-out, when every study ever conducted show that bulb-outs are significantly safer for both pedestrain and motorist. Keep using that classic Fox news inflammatory adjective approach to posting...you might get someone to believe you. To the OP...if there were a handicapped child living on Monterey trying to roll a wheelchair to La Cumbre Middle School, they could not do it without having to go off a curb. Evidently there are no such handicapped people living on Monterey. Once one moves in, you will see new curb cutouts at Monterey and Portesuello.

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