Advocate Disability Rights For Making NJ Sidewalks Accessible

Dept. of Justice, Aug 01, 2006

Department Brief Argues That All Public Entities Must Make Existing Sidewalks Accessible

The Department has filed an amicus brief in the federal court in New Jersey arguing that all public entities, including those with fewer than 50 employees, are obligated to make existing sidewalks accessible for people with disabilities by installing curb ramps. The New Jersey Protection and Advocacy Agency sued Riverside Township, a municipality in Burlington County, New Jersey, claiming that Riverside Township violated the ADA by failing to install curb ramps in public sidewalks. The township, which has fewer than 50 employees, asserted that it did not have an obligation to install curb ramps in existing sidewalks because transition plans, in which public entities identify the structural changes needed to make existing facilities accessible, are only required for public entities with 50 or more employees.

The advocacy agency asked the court to reject this view and rule that public entities regardless of size have an obligation to install curb cuts to provide access to existing public sidewalks. In its amicus brief the Department agreed, arguing that the exemption for small public entities only applies to the administrative obligation to complete a transition plan and not to the substantive obligation to make public sidewalks accessible.