DOJ signs off on ADA agreement with Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - The U.S. Department of Justice this week signed off an agreement with the city that will require Cedar Rapids to spend $15 million or more on improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The City Council approved the agreement on July 28.

Much of the cost centers on the city's need to install, repair or replace 4,000 to 8,000 curb cuts and sidewalk ramps to allow better access from sidewalks to streets, city officials have said.

Kevin Techau, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, commended the city this week for 'stepping up” and working with the Department of Justice to identify areas on streets and in parks and public buildings that need renovations to comply with the 25-year-old law.

'This is a great step forward to ensure that people with disabilities do have equal access and can participate in civic life, which is a fundamental right in American society,” Techau said.

Since 1999, Techau said some 220 cities across the nation have gone through similar ADA assessments as part of the DOJ's Access to Civic Life initiative. Des Moines, Davenport and Pella have completed civic access agreements, he said.

In the city's current budget year, the City Council has approved selling $5 million in bond debt for ADA compliance projects. The city expects similar bond indebtedness for the work to come in each of the next two years, Sandi Fowler, the city's assistant city manager, has said.

The work will include softening the slopes of some city parking lots, improving pathways from parking lots in city parks to park pavilions and upgrading park restrooms, Fowler said.