La Grange Park recently held open houses for residents to provide input on what was needed in the way of improvements for pedestrian traffic as village officials look for ways to increase compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.
About 30 residents showed up earlier this month for the first meeting at Village Hall to share concerns about problem areas in the village and get information from Village staff on the ADA Transition Plan. Another meeting took place Oct. 15 at Fire Station No. 2.
“I think it’s great that we’re looking at all our streets and sidewalks to make sure that we’re complying with ADA,” village President James Discipio said.
The process began last year, and village officials hope to have a plan formally approved at the Village Board’s second meeting in November.
The open house presented two separate maps of La Grange Park. One showed the areas that drew the most activity and interest from residents, while the other showed areas that were most in need of repair.
Both the areas of interest and spots needing improvement were predominantly around the 31st Street business district and the Village Market district north of Ogden Avenue along LaGrange Road.
The repairs will address several problems, including missing sidewalks, sidewalk gaps, physical conditions of curbs, and missing ramps from curbs to the streets.
Since the ADA was passed in 1990 and amended in 2008, municipalities all across the nation have been engaged in efforts to become compliant in not just sidewalks, but all areas of public accommodations.
Because many decades have passed since so many of the village’s sidewalks were built, keeping up with ADA compliance is an ongoing process.
La Grange Park is working on the update with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and engineering consultant Oates Associates.
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Oates’ representative Travis Helmkamp spoke at the initial open house of the findings of the study so far.
“A lot of what’s come up are challenges we were already aware of,” he said. “But it’s always good to hear about people’s experiences. People know the sidewalks that they walk, so it’s always good to know that what we’re seeing from 10,000 feet matches up with what people are experiencing as they walk around.”
Helmkamp said there were no big surprises in the study Oates Associates had done and that the work they had done so far represented “95% of the plan.”
Several residents gave their perspectives on some of the village’s problem areas for pedestrians.
“I use my wheelchair for transport when it comes to long distances,” said Noah Tovar, a student at Riverside-Brookfield High School. “And the sidewalks and the ramps onto the sidewalks, the sidewalk pitch to the road is very high and there’s been many times when I’ve tipped forward. Since I have some mobility in my leg I’m able to stick a leg out and make sure that I don’t tip forward.”
Tovar’s mother, Leah Tovar, said she would like to see something done with the alley near the 31st Street corridor where Noah catches the school bus, calling it “treacherous.”
Melissa Hasselbring, who lives near Forest Road Elementary School, said “sidewalks are my big issue in the area.”
“I’ve got three little kids and we like to go for walks,” she said. “But I have a stroller and the sidewalks are pretty appalling. The sidewalks in my neighborhood are uneven and broken and it gets really hard to push the stroller.”
Updates on La Grange Park’s ADA plan are posted on the village web site, engage.cmap.illinois.gov/la-grange-park.ada.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.