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Dallas Morning News 2/4/86

PHOTO: A small woman [Cathy Thomas] in a motorized wheelchair sits on a sidewalk above a curb. Her legs are extended and she is wearing an ADAPT T-shirt under her jacket; her face is determined. On the side of the curb, which runs the width of the picture, is stenciled the words "this curb is illegal."
Caption reads: Cathy Thomas, a member of the ADAPT organization, stops in from of a freshly painted curb in Irving that her group says is not accessible to people in wheelchairs.

[Headlines] Group protests curb construction
[Subheading] Advocates for disabled say work violates Irving ordinance
By Mercedes Olivera

IRVING — Members of a support group for the disabled staged a protest Wednesday against recent sidewalk construction and repairs along Rochelle Road that do not provide curb cuts for wheelchair bound citizens.

Armed with a can of red spray paint, five people from American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, or ADAPT, sprayed four recently repaired curbs with a stencil-lettered sign reading, “This curb is illegal."

In recent weeks, Rochelle Road has been resurfaced and had curbs torn out and replaced, city officials said.

"This curb is a clear-cut violation of their own ordinance," Dan Thomas, president of the Handicapped Association of Texas, said as he pointed to a recently poured curb. He accompanied his sister, Cathy, who must use a wheelchair.

Group members said they have monitored the city's compliance with its ordinance, adopted in—1981, requiring that curb cuts and barrier-free ramps be included in all street construction.

Sandy Cash, assistant city manager for development services, said the issue revolves around “what constitutes ‘maintenance’ and ‘new construction’ " of city streets.

He said the ordinance was meant for streets in new subdivisions, not for existing thoroughfares.

But "anytime we come in and have to remove a (large portion of) sidewalk and curbing, as a general rule we install a curb cut," Cash said.

The city staff is looking to the City Council for direction on this issue, he said.

He said city staff members have been preparing information on the cost and number of curbs torn out and replaced last year. The information will be given to City Council members, but Cash said he did not know when the report would be completed.

However, Thomas said ADAPT members have become frustrated by what he called the city's slow response to their requests.

“We ‘have never before asked that old barrier structures be rebuilt," Thomas said. “But now we are asking that all curbs placed since 1981, which are not in compliance, be replaced."

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