HomeMy WebLinkAboutRE: ADA on State Highway Sidewalks
Mike Plane
From:Bruce Castleton
Sent:Tuesday, June 25, 2024 16:05
To:Trevor Root; Mitch Humble; Cherie Vollmer; Craig Hawkins; Chris Reid; Grayson Stone;
Jason Brown; Ruth Pierce; Spencer Cutler
Cc:richard.r.rivera@dot.gov; England, Christine (USAID); info@disabilityrightsidaho.org;
info@gbdhlegal.com; Travis Rothweiler
Subject:RE: ADA on State Highway Sidewalks
Mr. Root,
The sidewalk where this incident occurred as shown in your video is located outside of Twin Falls City limits. The City
does not maintain those sidewalks nor does it have any responsibility to do so. To the extent you have made any formal
complaint or allega?on against the City regarding this sidewalk, I would ask that you withdraw the same.
Over the past months you have made numerous communica?ons to the City regarding sidewalk concerns, and the City is
a?emp?ng to review and address these concerns. The City has not been indifferent to any of these communica?ons.
Bruce Castleton
City A?orney
-----Original Message-----
From: Trevor Root <trevorroot@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2024 4:36 PM
To: Mitch Humble <Mhumble@?id.org>; Cherie Vollmer <cvollmer@?id.org>; Craig Hawkins <CHawkins@?id.org>; Chris
Reid <CReid@?id.org>; Grayson Stone <gstone@?id.org>; Jason Brown <jbrown@?id.org>; Ruth Pierce
<rpierce@?id.org>; Spencer Cutler <scutler@?id.org>
Cc: richard.r.rivera@dot.gov; England, Chris?ne (USAID) <Chris?ne.England@usdoj.gov>; info@disabilityrightsidaho.org;
info@gbdhlegal.com; Bruce Castleton <bcastleton@?id.org>
Subject: Re: ADA on State Highway Sidewalks
\[EXTERNAL SENDER\]
Council and ADA Coordinator,
You may be aware that a gentleman was stranded for 2 hours the previous Sunday on a differen?ally se?led sidewalk
joint that the City has failed to repair since at least 2015. If you have not seen the video of the incident, you are welcome
to watch it on my Linkedin page. I have no?fied the DOJ formally, and I request that the City's ADA Coordinator
document this formally in accordance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabili?es Act.
h?ps://www.linkedin.com/posts/trevorroot_accessibility-ada-prowag-ac?vity-7208257618836930560-
rYx4?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
The gentleman also informed me of a number of other loca?ons nearby where he has ?pped over or that he considered
to be dangerous for him on a motorized wheelchair. I have already no?fied the City of a number of these loca?ons, and
the City's own Road Safety Audit iden?fied a number of these in a 2022 report.
I also met Heidi the previous Friday at the exact loca?on I warned the City about in the previous email, while headed for
a coned-off area of apparently wet concrete. I have formally no?fied the DOJ of this incident and the City's failure to
respond to my email asking that her Civil Rights not be violated. It was apparent from the lack of any considera?on for
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pedestrians, cyclists, or wheelchairs with the construc?on signage that the City had shown Deliberate Indifference to my
prior email.
Once again, I ask that the City Council comply with the City's adopted ADA Transi?on Plan, comply with Federal and State
Laws, and that all of the City's licensed engineers uphold their responsibility to the Safety, Health, and Welfare of the
Public so that incidents like these do not con?nue to occur.
Also, once again, I ask that the ADA coordinator provide me with the City's priority list for curb ramps and sidewalks, as
required by the ADA, so that I can cross reference the current priority list with the loca?on of the incident posted on my
Linkedin page, the loca?ons the gentleman described, the loca?ons I've no?fied the City about in prior communica?ons,
and the loca?ons I've found adjacent to polling places.
Signed,
Trevor Root
On Fri, Jun 7, 2024 at 9:15 AM Trevor <trevorroot@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Mr. Humble,
> I have no?fied the City previously for issues rela?ng to sidewalk
> accessibility, including the specific issue of the temporary closure
> of sidewalks.
>
> I have a?ached two photos of a closure I witnessed last night that
> doesn't appear to provide MUTCD compliant closures or alternate
> accessible routes for people with disabili?es. I did not see any
> warning signs to allow anyone the opportunity to detour at a previous
> crossing.
>
> I know that a woman that uses a wheelchair regularly uses this stretch
> of sidewalk. I have seen her mul?ple ?mes - possibly travelling from
> the Lazy J ranch to the shopping areas near Target. Not only is this
> closure impossible to pass for a wheelchair, it is also a safety
> hazard for bicyclists and pedestrians.
>
> Please ensure immediately that her civil rights are not being violated
> by this closure of sidewalks and that an appropriate detour and
> warning signs have been provided.
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