Handicapped reach accord RTD

Wheelchair-bound demonstrators and the Regional Transportation District reached an “understanding” Friday in a conflict that led the bus company to seek a restraining order against the demonstrators a week ago.

Both sides “agreed to agree,” according to RTD spokeswoman Kathy Joyce, who said they would work out the details of the agreement before the issue comes before Denver District Judge Daniel Sparr on Feb. 2

During that time, Sparr will make no decision on RTD’s request for the temporary restraining order. If a formal agreement is reached by Feb. 2, Joyce said the request would be dropped.

The demonstrators began staging a sit-in at RTD’s headquarters Jan. 4 over the company’s decision not to place wheelchair lifts on 89 new buses scheduled for delivery next year. The wheelchair-bound activists were from the Atlantis Community and Holistic Approaches to Independent Living Inc.

Several of the demonstrators chained themselves to stairwells in the main lobby of the building at 1600 Blake St., and others blocked the front entrance during the demonstration.

Their anger was directed at RTD Executive Director L.A. Kimball, whom they blame for the decision to omit the lifts from the new buses. During the sit-in, the building’s elevators were shut off, making it impossible for the demonstrators to reach Kimball’s office.

The demonstrators weren’t arrested, but they were escorted from the premises by police and paramedics.

RTD requested the temporary restraining order against the demonstrators after the third day of protest, claiming the demonstration caused “disruption, obstruction and interference.”

John Holland, an attorney representing the demonstrators, said the issues that led to the demonstrations are still alive, but that both sides will work out their differences in the next two and a half weeks in a climate of more open communication. He said that during that tie his clients will not be “disruptive.”

Created on

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Posted on

Tuesday 10 May 2016

Tags

Atlantis, bus purchase, demonstration, Denver RTD, elevators, HAIL - Holistic Approaches to Independent Living, John Holland, paramedics, restraining order, sit-in, wheelchair bound, wheelchair lifts

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