BOSTON - Tuesday,
July 13, 2021 - Mayor Kim Janey and the City of Boston Public Works
Department, working in conjunction with the Mayor’s Commission for Persons
with Disabilities, today announced a major milestone in the City's efforts
to make Boston's streets and sidewalks more accessible to people with
mobility disabilities.
Yesterday, United
States District Court Judge Richard Stearns granted preliminary approval of
the settlement in Muehe, et al. v. City of Boston. The class
action seeks to ensure that the City's sidewalk corners comply with the
Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act. This settlement was reached through extensive collaborative
conversation between all parties.
The City of Boston
has over 23,000 curb ramps, less than half of which are currently in
compliance with federal disability access requirements. In addition,
many sidewalk corners are missing curb ramps altogether. These missing and
noncompliant curb ramps represent a significant barrier to safe and
convenient travel for all people, especially those with mobility disabilities.
“Boston is filled
with vibrant commercial districts and diverse cultural attractions. One of
our top priorities is to make sure that every resident and visitor to
Boston can take part in and contribute to all that our city has to offer,”
said Mayor Kim Janey. “The investment in our curb ramps and sidewalks
is a foundational step towards achieving a more welcoming and inclusive
city. We appreciate the advocates, our Disabilities Commission and our
Public Works Department who all worked on this settlement to set a more
equitable and just course for our city.”
This landmark
settlement will take a major step forward. In accordance with the
settlement's terms, the City of Boston will construct and/or upgrade
approximately 1,600 curb ramps per year until every corner at a pedestrian
crossing has an ADA-compliant curb ramp. The City has also agreed to survey
all ramps for ADA compliance and establish a transition plan to map out how
the City will ensure accessibility.
Importantly, during
the course of the settlement conversations, the City already started the
work. Boston funded and hired its first ADA coordinator who is focused
on street capital improvements. The City also expanded investment in
and oversight of sidewalk and curb ramp construction projects and has
included $57 million, a $25 million increase, to meet its construction
obligations under the proposed settlement in its recently-passed five-year
capital plan. Additionally, the City started its survey and transition plan
to ensure all ramps are brought into ADA compliance.
“Accessible curb
ramps and sidewalks are necessary to achieving the integration and equal
opportunity mandates of the ADA and other disability non-discrimination
laws. We congratulate the City of Boston for its commitment to
providing people with mobility disabilities equal access to the pedestrian
right of way,” said plaintiffs’ counsel Raymond Wendell of Goldstein,
Borgen, Dardarian & Ho.
“Federal and state
disability access laws were enacted decades ago to provide persons with
disabilities an equal opportunity to fully participate in civic life,” said
Tim Fox, claimants’ counsel and Co-Executive Director of the Civil Rights
Education and Enforcement Center. “Today, we stand together with the
City of Boston to fulfill the promise of those laws by ensuring that people
with disabilities can travel independently throughout their
communities. Inaccessible curb ramps prevent persons with disabilities
from being fully integrated in their communities. This settlement goes
a long way toward addressing those issues in that it will result in new
ramps being put in at corners where there are no ramps and it will result
noncompliant ramps being brought into compliance.”
“As the Protection
and Advocacy system for Massachusetts, Disability Law Center is proud to
have partnered with our co-counsel to ensure greater access for all people
with disabilities who live and work in Boston, and who wish to take part in
each of the amazing cultural, educational, and civic opportunities that the
‘Cradle of Liberty’ has to offer,” said Thomas Murphy, a Senior Attorney at
Disability Law Center who is co-counsel for the Plaintiffs. “The City
of Boston should be commended for working cooperatively to finally reach
this historic agreement.”
Boston resident
Michael Muehe, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said, “I was thrilled to
join with other fantastic disability advocates in this case in demanding
action from the City of Boston to fix the widespread curb cut problems
throughout my city. This comprehensive consent decree will go far in
improving pedestrian access for disabled people. I congratulate the
Plaintiffs and the City of Boston for reaching this historic agreement, and
I look forward to its speedy implementation.”
“This settlement
means a lot to me and to people with disabilities who want to live
independently in our community,” said Boston resident Colleen Flanagan,
another plaintiff. “I am hopeful that with this settlement, we will
substantially improve the accessibility of Boston neighborhoods to people
with mobility disabilities.”
Plaintiff Crystal
Evans, who lives in Braintree but frequently visits Boston, praised the
settlement: “In addition to thousands of new curb ramps, the City is
improving how a person with a disability can request a new curb ramp or fix
a broken curb ramp. We no longer have to figure out how to do this on our
own or suffer the frustration of not hearing back from the City.”
People with
disabilities are the largest minority group in the country – census figures
estimate that 56.7 million, or 1 in 5, Americans have a
disability.
With the preliminary
approval granted, the members of the class will be notified of the
settlement. At a subsequent hearing, a judge will rule on the final status
of the settlement. This hearing is anticipated to take place on October 19,
2021.
The creation of the
new and improved curb ramps builds on the City’s previous efforts to
increase sidewalk accessibility for residents throughout Boston. Launched
in July of 2020, the Mayor’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities
started an initiative to distribute ramps to restaurants participating in outdoor
dining to increase accessibility for those with mobility
disabilities.
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