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Madison posts updated ADA transition plan; public sessions set, staff to inventory curb ramps and bus stops
Summary
Madison posted its updated ADA transition plan and opened public comment; the city scheduled three July information sessions and identified 206 likely missing curb cuts and multiple bus stops needing accessibility work.
Rebecca Hoyt, Madison’s ADA coordinator, told the Transportation Commission on June 25 that the city’s updated ADA transition plan is posted online, available in four languages and open for public comment.
Hoyt summarized the plan and the public outreach schedule. The city will host recorded public information sessions and live outreach events; the sessions announced at the meeting were:
- July 9: program services, activities and employment self-evaluation; - July 16: public right-of-way (pedestrian facilities, curb ramps, signals); - July 23: facilities and web/digital accessibility.
Hoyt said the plan relies on existing datasets, ArcGIS mapping, aerial imagery and spot verification; staff supplemented those sources with targeted site visits and partner input from Access to Independence. She noted limitations: certain features such as slope and cross-slope cannot be reliably measured from aerial data and will require field verification.
Key findings Hoyt discussed:
- The inventory identifies roughly 206 pedestrian crossings likely missing curb cuts; staff will verify those locations in person and produce a plan addendum. The verification is scheduled to be completed by Dec. 31, 2027. - The city identified 11 bus stops that are not fully compliant with accessibility features; staff plan to make accessibility improvements at 10 stops by Nov. 30 of the current year. - The updated public right-of-way guidance references the Public Rights-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) issued by the U.S. Access Board; Hoyt noted that PROWAG was updated in December 2024 and applies to new or altered construction as of Jan. 17, 2025. She also noted that some federal adoption steps remain (e.g., DOJ-level rulemaking) and that agencies such as GSA and FTA have already adopted relevant guidance that affects federally funded projects.
The plan recommends stronger specification language for temporary pedestrian facilities and for construction-site accommodations in the public right-of-way, and it calls for improved communication channels for residents to request audible pedestrian signals, snow clearance, curb ramp repairs and other accessibility services.
Commissioners pressed for additional implementation detail. Hoyt said that while the inventory and verification step will be completed in the next two years, full installation of compliant curb ramps is planned to proceed over a longer timeframe (through 2044) because of funding constraints and the city’s multi-year sidewalk/replacement cycles.
Hoyt said staff will distribute a press release and registration links for the July information sessions and encouraged commissioners and members of the public to submit comments via the multilingual public-comment form linked in the posted materials.
