Request for Committee Action

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires state and local governments with more than 50 employees to develop and update an ADA Transition Plan periodically until all accessibility barriers are removed. The intent of an ADA Transition Plan is to identify barriers to accessibility, establish priorities for improvements, and develop an implementation plan and timeline for removing accessibility barriers.

There are three plans in the City of Minneapolis that meet the Transition Plan requirements of the ADA. The ADA Transition Plan for Public Works is a supporting plan to the City’s ADA Action Plan. The ADA Action Plan is managed and led by the City’s Neighborhood and Community Relations Department and is a comprehensive policy document for the City of Minneapolis to comply with Title II requirements of the ADA. The ADA Action Plan includes the Property Services ADA Plan, a complementary plan from the Finance and Property Services Department which addresses City-owned and leased properties, and the ADA Transition Plan for Public Works which addresses access to the City’s public right of way.

The ADA Transition Plan for Public Works was adopted by Minneapolis City Council in February, 2020, and was developed through engagement with organizations that work with and advocate for people with disabilities, the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities, the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on Aging, partner agencies, and two City-staffed working groups. People who engaged in the plan development provided input on barriers that are encountered in the public right of way and priorities for removing barriers through two open houses, a survey, committee meetings, and interviews with interested groups and individuals.

The 2022 ADA Transition Plan for Public Works Update represents a moment in time to evaluate the ongoing progress and highlight next steps. The goal of this biennial evaluation and update is to:

• Understand the progress made to date on the recommendations and milestones outlined in the Plan
• Ensure that Public Works is making progress on the recommendations outlined in the Plan
• Identify any roadblocks preventing progress, ways to improve workflows, or adjustments that need to be made to the recommendations

Since the adoption of the 2020 ADA Transition Plan for Public Works, the 10-year Transportation Action Plan (TAP) was approved and adopted by the City Council (December 2020). The TAP supports the work outlined in the ADA Transition Plan by addressing a variety of issues that impact the accessibility of streets and sidewalks in Minneapolis and by laying out a series of priorities, policies and approaches to identify and remove barriers in the public right of way. As part of the TAP, Public Works has committed to conducting a review of the ADA Transition Plan for Public Works on a biennial basis (Walking Action 5.7) to evaluate progress and suggest plan updates in pursuit of improved compliance.

As part of the 2022 ADA Transition Plan for Public Works Update, Public Works staff met with the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on People with Disabilities, the Minneapolis Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and the Minneapolis Advisory Committee on Aging to provide an overview of the ongoing and completed work that has occurred since the adoption of the 2020 ADA Transition Plan and to outline upcoming work related to recommendations and milestones in the Plan.

There are two primary elements of the 2022 ADA Transition Plan for Public Works Update: a redlined version of the 2020 ADA Transition Plan for Public Works and Appendix A, which highlights progress made to date and includes a summary update of all the recommendations and milestones identified in the 2020 plan, including adjusted timelines for some recommendations.

The 2020 ADA Transition Plan for Public Works has been redlined to reflect policy updates that have occurred since the plan was adopted. Along with the redlined document, the appendix provides an overview of the progress made to date on the recommendations and milestones within the plan, highlights some of the key work currently in progress, identifies challenges within this work, and outlines and adjusts anticipated milestones in the coming years.

The ADA Transition Plan for Public Works will be reviewed and updated biennially as improvements are completed and inventories on accessible infrastructure are updated and expanded upon per recommendations in the Plan. Updates will be available on the Public Works’ ADA Transition Plan website: https://www2.minneapolismn.gov/government/departments/public-works/ada-transition/.