Today the Wichita City Council gave approval to the ADA Final Transition Plan for structural changes in city properties that will make them fully accessible to persons with disabilities by 2017. One of the principal provisions of this transition plan calls for an evaluation of all city facilities for ADA conformity and a development of a detailed plan on how those modifications are to be accomplished. This detailed third party study was initiated in 2006 and completed in 2007.
David Calvert, Chair of the Wichita/Sedgwick County Access Advisory Board spoke in support of the ADA Transition Plan and asked the council to give final approval to the plan.
“The City undertook a self-evaluation of all of its programs, services and facilities and discovered more than 3,000 areas that were not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Calvert said. “Since then, the city has aggressively sought to modify those facilities and programs by instituting training programs, appointing departmental ADA coordinators, establishing a compliance team and fixing the problems. When this plan is complete, Wichita will be one of the most accessible cities in the United States.”
The 2008 adoption of the final transition plan will have a positive impact on the efficient infrastructure goals, as access to public facilities is created or improved for citizens with disabilities. The goal of quality of life will also be positively affected, as the improvements to access allow those with mobility or other challenges to participate to a greater extent in the public life of the community. The changes are carefully structured to fit within the current Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and should not require extraordinary funding.
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