Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, city and state governments are required to install curb cuts or ramps at the end of sidewalks along all new roads. On roads built prior to 1992, when the law was enacted, curb cuts are required to be installed any time the road is resurfaced or otherwise modified.

In bigger cities like Salt Lake, enough streets have been modified and curb cuts installed to make traveling easy, according to Barbara Toomer, secretary of the Disabled Rights Action Committee. The city has appointed a special coordinator, Barry Esham, to assist with accessibility and other ADA compliance issues.

Salt Lake is one of the few cities in Utah with an ADA coordinator, according to disabled activists.

In Bountiful, which does not have an ADA coordinator, city manager Tom Hardy said any resident can work with city officials to improve accessibility. If a person requests a curb cut, the city's public works department will review that request, and helps map out a path for that resident to travel — including in the street — until a curb cut can be installed.

"It's very expensive to put them in," Hardy said. He estimates a single curb cut can cost more than $1,000 to install.

Generally the city will wait to install curb cuts until a road project is planned in the area, Hardy said. Under ADA, cities have no obligation to install a curb cut until the road or sidewalk is altered.

Johnson, from St. George, doesn't dispute that improving accessibility can be expensive. And cities are getting better about improving access, he said. But he encourages residents to continue pushing for changes and improvements, even if they need to file a lawsuit.

"People with disabilities need to learn to advocate for changes when they see that something is not accessible," he said. "We need more advocacy. We need to be more vocal."

For more information about the state settlement with Decker and the Disability Law Center, log on to: www.disabilitylawcenter.org/courts/

---

E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com