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CASE #4 <br /> <br />ADOPT PEDESTRIAN CURB RAMP DETAIL <br /> By: Leonard Linton, Civil Engineer II <br /> <br />Background: <br /> <br />Pedestrian curb ramps are the transition zones between sidewalks and curb and gutter. <br />They are installed at all locations where walks or trails cross the street. The enactment of <br />the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) made installation of a different surface <br />treatment on the ramps mandatory. The purpose for the change in surface texture is to <br />provide notice to the visually impaired that there is a crossing ahead. Truncated domes <br />were adopted as the standard in the early 1990's then implementation was suspended for <br />ten (10) ye'ars due to the maintenance concerns with the domes. Snow removal <br />equipment sheared off the domes, removing and replacing the panels was labor intensive' <br />and might need to be done every year. <br /> <br />Durit~g the'suspension the standard practice for constructing pedestrian curb ramps was to <br />install exposed aggregate on the ramp surfaces. The only exception to this practice was <br />on Minnesota State Aid (MSA) projects where state and/or federal money was involved. <br />Truncated domes were installed on all projects where federal money was included in the <br />t-unding mechanism. <br /> <br />The suspension expired in 2001 and was not renewed. The ADA requirements are being <br />reviewed and new guidelines will be issued in the future. This summer the League of <br />Minnesota Cities legal counsel issued an opinion that truncated domes must be installed <br />on all pedestrian curb ramps in public right-of-way. A copy of the opinion, the old detail <br />and the new detail are attached. <br /> <br />Staff has been reviewing options for the truncated domes and has obtained research <br />performed by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation on various dome systems. <br />The methods studied included stamping the surface of the wet concrete to form the <br />domes, installing plastic mats with domes in the wet concrete, rubber mats attached to <br />cured concrete, masonry panels inset into cured concrete and a cement product toweled <br />onto existing surfaces. The only product that was passed the testing was the plastic mats. <br />The remainder were not approved for use on Wisconsin DOT Projects. The full study is <br />available at City Hall. <br /> <br />Staff saw a new product at the APWA convention in Minneapolis this week. It is a <br />stainless steel panel with raised domes and a non-skid finish. The product is <br />manufactured in Wisconsin. It is on the Minnesota Department of Transportation <br />Approved list for truncated dome systems. The product was tested by Wisconsin, staff <br />has requested test results for this project. <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br /> <br />