ADA advocates urge Planning Board to reverse cuts to sidewalk and signal accessibility funding

Advocates from the Stamford ADA Advisory Council and residents told the Planning Board on Jan. 7 that cuts to sidewalk and accessible-signal funding would perpetuate long-standing noncompliance and place residents with disabilities at risk.

Philip McGalnick, co-chair of the ADA Advisory Council, said the city has decades-old obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and related statutes and urged the board to consider data and council input before reducing the sidewalk and accessible signal budgets. He warned that the Department of Justice's recent Pedestrian Right of Way Guidelines increases legal and financial risk for municipalities that fail to provide accessible pedestrian infrastructure.

Anuragha Kazmierczak, vice chair of the ADA Advisory Council, described personal safety hazards when crossing major streets without pedestrian-audible signals and urged the board to separate ADA-accessibility projects from federal-restricted funding so they can be prioritized and spent where needed.

Planning Board members responded that they are weighing current account balances and the city's ability to spend large sums in a single fiscal year; the board noted the citywide sidewalks account holds nearly $3 million but asked whether the transportation department can obligate and expend those funds in the coming year. Board members encouraged the public to continue working with the transportation bureau to develop spend plans that allow account balances to be drawn down and projects to proceed.

No formal funding decision was made at the hearing; the board will include ADA advisory council input as it prepares a recommendation to the mayor.