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[Headline] Citizens call for curb cuts

By Karen Sykes
Daily News Staff

Advocates of rights for handicapped citizens appeared before the Community Services committee Wednesday to make an emotional plea for construction of access ramps at intersections in the city.

The issue came to the attention of the city after Danny Thomas, president of the Irving Chapter of the Handicapped Association of Texas, told city officials that a city ordinance was being violated.

"There seems to be some problem interpreting (the city ordinance requiring handicapped access ramps)," Thomas said. "All of us who worked toward getting that ordinance drawn and passed believed, and still believe, that the ordinance calls for construction of a curb is replaced, regardless of whether as maintenance or new construction."

Streets Administrator Wilburn Hinkle said the city ordinance calls for the installation of ramps only on request or during new construction or reconstruction of sidewalks. Access ramps are not installed when maintenance work is being done, he said.

The Department of Public Works is following that policy, which is effective in placing ramps where they are most needed and maximizing city funds, he said.

Thomas said numerous sidewalks at intersections in the city are being repaired, constructed or reconstructed but ramps are not being installed. However, much of that work is being done by utility companies, which are not required to install ramps, Hinkle said.

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