The town of Winamac is continuing its efforts to become ADA compliant, and Town Manager Jim Conner said they’ve still got a few steps to go on the long road to compliance. The town held a public meeting earlier this week to get the public informed about the plan and hear any ideas that residents may have.
Conner said they’ve still got inventory work to do for sidewalks and curb ramps to get an idea of which areas need to be reworked to ensure compliance. On top of that, the town will soon be installing truncated domes at the end of crosswalks to ensure the visually-impaired know they are approaching a street crosswalk.
One of the biggest aspects of becoming ADA compliant for the town, according to Conner, will be improving public restrooms. He said the town will be performing a lot of work on restrooms in municipal buildings, such as adding grab bars, ensuring toilets are the correct height, and there is enough space for those with disabilities.
Seven buildings in the town of Winamac will need to be improved to get them up-to-snuff with ADA requirements, not to mention the several streets, sidewalks, and crosswalks that will need upgraded as well. By June 2013, Conner said the buildings will need to be up to ADA codes. After that, it’s just a matter of getting the sidewalks and such up to code; fortunately, Conner said there is no specific deadline for those items.
Toward the middle of December, Conner said town officials will get together and figure out what routes to take to get most of the areas connected in the quickest time possible, which will include the school, downtown area, YMCA, and shopping mall.
Despite the heavy workload, Conner said he’s confident the town will get the work done in time for the deadline. Since the weather has been favorable, he’s been working on the sidewalks and curb ramp inventory, but once the weather gets colder, Conner said he’ll switch to working on buildings until the weather improves and he can resume work on the sidewalks.
