Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016
Curb Ramp Data Compilation – Next Steps
o There are a total of 6289 Priority 1 deficient or missing curb ramps that MassDOT is now prioritizing for remediation, of which 289 were addressed as of May 2016. These assessed ramps are being studied by a consultant for quality control purposes and to assign priority by district based on a combination of failing status and consideration of social use factors.
o There are a second larger set of ramps that have been identified as usable, and need lower level remediation, that will be prioritized after this critical round of priority ramps is being addressed. These ramps are being addressed through the retrofit contract work and the ongoing roadway reconstruction cycle projects.
The Prioritization Process
o As it is necessary to determine which of the 6,289 ramps that will be reconstructed in each fiscal year, the ramps within each District were ranked in order of priority.
o The methodology employed conforms to the procedures outlined in National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 803: Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation Along Existing Roads—ActiveTrans Priority Tool Guidebook. It is this tool that MassDOT used to help track the list.
1 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 Step 1: Locating and Mapping Existing Ramps
o Within District 3’s 77 towns and cities, the consultant located the ramps that were classified as non-compliant or missing. After Quality control was done, we were confident that we had a list we could start working with.
o The ActiveTrans Priority Tool (ATPT)
Step 2: Outreach
o To start this process various municipal planning organizations I within District 3 were contacted: Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC), Boston Region MPO’s Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS), Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC), Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG), and Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD)
Step 3: Determining the Factors and their Weights
o Eight (8) of the nine (9) original default factors available in the ATPT were chosen to be in this analysis.
o The additional factor was that of practicality, it is labeled, “Ease of Construction.” Although all ramps need to be ADA/AAB compliant, the reality is that each District has a certain amount of money that can be spent each year, to help maximize these funds rebuilding or repairing ramps that are close in proximity helps to minimize traveling distance, and remobilization costs.
o The Variables are:
1. Stakeholder input
2 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 Number of Requests/Comments
Included in Adopted Plan
2. Constraints and Right of Way (ROW)
3. Opportunities
Planned Roadway Improvement Projects
4. Safety
Pedestrian Accidents, both fatal and non
5. Existing Conditions
Presence of Sidewalk and Ramps
6. Demand
Route Utility
Number of bus and transit stops
Proximity to Healthcare or Public Services and
Proximity to Schools
7. Ease of Construction
Location and Proximity of other ramps
8. Equity/Title IV
Environmental Justice for Elderly, Language, No Auto Ownership, Poverty, and Minority
9. Persons with Disabilities
Step 4: Determining the Weights for the Factors
3 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 o This is the crucial step that changes the ramp from just a ramp to a number on a list.
o The weight communicates the strength of agency and community values for each factor. With input from MassDOT and MOD, each of the chosen factors was assigned a weight between one (1) and ten (10). None of the factors identified were assigned scores lower than 4.
Step 5: Creating a Ranked List
o The prioritization scores were calculated using the following process for each ramp location:
4 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 1. The unweighted factor score was calculated by summing the scaled variable values and dividing by the number of variables used for each factor.
2. The weighted score for each factor was calculated by multiplying the unweighted factor score by the weight assigned to each factor.
3. These weighted factor scores were summed, resulting in a raw prioritization score for each individual curb ramp location. The curb ramp with the highest raw score was given a rank of one; the next highest score was given a rank of two, and so on.
Specifics for District 3 Fiscal 2017
o FY 2017 contract for D3 is $1.28m
o Construction to start in Fall 2017
o Previous construction data shows us that each ramp is approximately $5,000 to $8,000 to fix or install. This then allows us to plan for approximately 200 ramps to be in each fiscal years plan.
Curb Ramp Remediation
Retrofit Contracts
o Federal funding has been identified for the purposes of performing retrofits of existing (or missing) curb ramps.
o Between 2015 and 2021, nearly $20 million in capital investment and federal dollars will be spent on curb ramp retrofit work, beyond curb ramps that will be created or
5 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 remediated through the ongoing roadway reconstruction contracts and other highway related construction project contracts.
o As of April 2016, a total of 861 ramps were addressed through the retrofit contracts.
Sidewalk Inventory
o Sidewalk Inventory effort is being restructured to include field assessments during the winter to address considerations of both snow maintenance and sidewalk condition.
o Effort is envisioned to begin in winter 2016.
o Results of Sidewalk assessment will be merged with results of curb ramp assessment to ensure integrated remediation or reconstruction
Buildings and other Facilities
o Highway District Offices 6 (Boston) and 2 (Northampton) have addressed accessibility features and the remaining districts have either designed or are in design for renovations or reconstruction.
o EZ Pass Service Center (only EZ Pass location owned by MassDOT) in East Boston - Project to address accessibility issue is under construction and will be completed in October 2016. Second floor service desk area moved to ground level (storefront style entry). Other EZ Pass Center locations are to be leased sites provided by the service Vendor with obligations to meet accessibility requirements in the contract language.
o Service Plazas, Rest Areas and Park and Rides – there is a scope of work pending to be implemented this fall to address
6 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 these highway features, including both the Turnpike and other MassDOT highways.
Work Zone Safety
o MassDOT has completed drafting and review on a work zone safety policy that is consistent with pending requirements of the proposed federal Public Right of Way Accessibility Guidelines. The draft policy is not being assessed to determine whether it will be established as an Engineering Directive.
Municipal Oversight and Support
The Strategic Municipal ADA Planning developed between MassDOT, FHWA and MOD is underway for a second year, with three sessions to be presented in 2016 for city government leaders and teams representing 30 Massachusetts communities at will include between (nearly 20 communities participated during the pilot effort in 2015). Training is designed to help communities envision how to develop effective Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) transition plans through team effort, strategic approaches in thinking and resource use. Great emphasis is placed on the role of meaningful public participation and engagement of Disability commissions, Independent Living Centers and other state and federal resources to help create strategic plans. The following topic areas are covered in the workshop:
o The structure of state and federal disability access oversight
o Current issues and trends in the enforcement of ADA and related state law
o Key disability nondiscrimination principles that apply to cities and towns
7 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 o The public participation mandate
o The outline of transition plans and procedural requirements
o Effective self-evaluation and data collection strategies
o Schemes for prioritizing remediation
o Methods for altering existing facilities
o Budgeting for transition planning
o Technical and policy considerations across curb ramps, sidewalks, accessible pedestrian signals, determination of maximum extent feasible, and more
o Adoptable resources and funding opportunities
Municipal Curb Ramp Assessment Grant Proposal
A Federal Highway Accelerated Innovation Deployment proposal remains pending to be submitted to Federal Highway for modification of the curb ramp assessment software for use by municipalities on a pilot basis.
Information Technology – Electronic Communications The committee formalized an employee guide for creating accessible documents and is working with MassDOT’s HR team to broaden the employee training in this area.
The committee created contract language which ensures that each Consultant or Contractor is required to provide accessible electronic deliverables. This language is now in effect at both MassDOT and the MBTA for groups that contract for public facing technology resources.
8 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 Planned and hosted a webcasted a training offered to all MassDOT and MBTA employees as a Lunch & Learn to raise awareness of accessibility and the current efforts of MassDOT and the MBTA.
Senior Staff and Department Briefings on Accessible IT –
The sub-committee has presented to MassDOT and MBTA Senior Staff in order to raise awareness of this issue and to introduce new contract language that had been developed for use by both agencies. Members have also met with various MassDOT departments to address specific department focused accessibility issues.
Public Participation
Public participation efforts on the final ADA transition Plan will be conducted at the district level, starting with District3 (Worcester area) and expanding statewide as efforts to complete the prioritization of curb ramps is completed for the remaining MassDOT Highway Districts.
Registry of Motor Vehicles
Since completing Branch assessments in 2015, more than 50% of the Branch offices have undergone layout modifications as part of a customer experience improvement program to reduce wait times and improve customer flow. This included eliminating accessibility barriers identified in the assessments, where practicable. Several Branches have undergone or are in the design phase of major reconstruction to improve access, including Quincy, Milford, and Wilmington. These reconstruction efforts have reached the interior of the buildings as well as the exterior and path of travel, as needed. Lastly, 5 additional
Branches will be relocated to fully accessible locations this winter (New Bedford, Brockton, Springfield, Lawrence, and Leominster).
9 Outline of Key MassDOT ADA Working Group Achievements September 2016 While a significant number of access improvement recommendations identified by the assessments have been addressed through reconstruction, lease-negotiation, layout improvement, and other related activities, any remaining assessment-related improvements are to be prioritized in the coming year.
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