A year-long accessibility review of Aubrey's public buildings, parks and sidewalks has produced a price tag: about $8.1 million to bring everything the consultants checked into line with federal disability standards, according to a draft plan in the City Council's agenda packet for Thursday, Oct. 22.
Engineering firm Kimley-Horn is scheduled to walk the council through the city's Americans with Disabilities Act self-evaluation and transition plan. The item is a presentation only, with no vote.
A staff report from Human Resources Director Shaena Williams, the city's ADA coordinator, says public entities are required to have a transition plan, which identifies accessibility barriers at city facilities, sidewalks and curb ramps and the improvements needed to remove them.
What the survey found
Crews evaluated eight city buildings and found 104 barriers. City Hall on South Main Street had the most, with 34, followed by the library on Countryside Drive with 29 and the police department with 17.
Common problems included slopes that are too steep along accessible routes and in accessible parking spaces, parking stripes that do not meet the standard, and restroom fixtures such as toilets and sinks.
Five parks had 89 barriers between them. Leslie Park accounted for 52, most of them along its sidewalks. Winn Ridge Park had 15, Veterans Memorial Park 11, Matthews Park seven and Highmeadow Park four. Trividi Park had not been built when the parks were inspected this spring and will be checked later.
The consultants also used a phone-based LiDAR scanner to map about 44 miles of sidewalk corridors. They counted 80 permanent obstructions such as power poles, 67 tripping hazards, 63 spots blocked by vegetation and 41 places where water ponds. Of 495 locations that need a curb ramp, 110 have none, and 252 of the 385 existing ramps meet the standard.
