With more than 400 miles of sidewalks in Waukegan and an abundance of intersections, the city wants to know how easy or difficult it is for people — particularly those with disabilities or even aging knees — to navigate so it can create a plan to make it as easy as possible for them.
Over the summer, people will be walking every inch of those sidewalks. Their tool, a smartphone programmed to learn every flaw that needs to be corrected to make them fully accessible to people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Don Kostelec, a principal of Vitruvian Planning and one of three entities engaged to craft the plan for the city, said four to six people with the phones will carry out the plan much more accurately than it took many more to achieve with less accuracy.
“Crews will walk every mile of sidewalks with smartphones programmed with LiDAR,” Kostelec said, referring to sophisticated technology that uncovers any potential flaw in a sidewalk.
The city accelerated public community engagement for its long-term accessibility plan with a listening session on Monday at the Waukegan Public Library to learn about people’s needs and concerns navigating the city’s sidewalks and more.
Knowing his city needed to make getting around easier for people — particularly those with disabilities and seniors — Mayor Sam Cunningham engaged the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), architectural firm Epstein and Vitruvian. CMAP provided a grant.
“Waukegan is embarking on this comprehensive, long-term accessibility plan to make the city a more inclusive place where every single resident can navigate the community safely, independently and with dignity,” he said in an email.
Not a new challenge, Cunningham said the time has arrived to deliberately create a long-term plan — 10 years or more is not unrealistic — to make the city accessible to all, from ramps at each intersection to traffic lights serving those who cannot see with sound and those who cannot hear with bright lights.
“For too long, historic gaps in the public right-of-way infrastructure have created unintended barriers for individuals with limited mobility,” he said. “We are establishing a blueprint to eliminate these barriers and modernize Waukegan for generations to come.”
In an effort to hear residents’ ideas and concerns, Stephanie Nappa, a senior planner with Epstein, sat at a table in the library on Monday listening to what people had to tell her about what they would like to see in the accessibility plan. Creating the plan is projected to take 11 months.
“We’re getting ideas on how to create the plan,” Nappa said. “I’m learning how the infrastructure is affecting people. One person said the crosswalk in her neighborhood only had ramps on three sides. She wants crosswalks to be accessible to everyone.”
Kostelec said a primary goal of the project is to make all sidewalks and crosswalks compliant with the ADA. It starts with a self-evaluation, which will take place over the next nine months. It started in March.
Once the evaluation is done, Kostelec said the highest priorities will be determined so projects can be budgeted on a long-term basis. Sidewalks and crosswalks are a priority. Traffic lights may be changed or improved to have voice-activated commands and warnings.
Cunningham said the plan will attempt to maximize each investment made in the project. Priority will be given to areas based on density, closeness to public services and barriers currently interfering with accessibility.
“This living document will be integrated directly into the annual capital improvement budgets and routine street maintenance schedules, allowing the city to make steady, fiscally responsible progress year after year, while actively incorporating ongoing feedback from residents,” he said.
As the plan is crafted, Kostelec said census tract data is available to figure out where higher populations of seniors and people with disabilities live. Such data, along with sidewalk conditions, will help with prioritizing areas as well.
For people living with disabilities who find it challenging to move around as they age or care for young children who require more vigilance, Cunningham said the plan “will bring tangible, transformative improvements to daily life.”
“By systematically upgrading the pedestrian infrastructure, we are ensuring that our seniors, residents with physical or visual impairments and parents with strollers have equal access to economic opportunities, community events and public services,” he said.
Nappa said CMAP is looking for residents to be part of the steering committee.
