At the August 10 Commission meeting, ACHD staff presented a summary of the completed curb ramp, sidewalk, and pedestrian pushbutton projects that were newly installed or repaired by both ACHD and private development in 2021.

The report highlights the District's continued focus on accessibility and dedication to improving pedestrian facilities in Ada County.

In 2021, ACHD repaired 36.8 sidewalk miles and 137 existing curb ramps, which were previously ranked as either high, medium, or low deficiency. ACHD also completed 4.8 new sidewalk miles and 182 new curb ramps. Additionally, private developers, in collaboration with ACHD, installed a total of 90.5 miles of new sidewalk and constructed 1,725 curb ramps.

ACHD's commitment to these facilities comes out to roughly $5.3 million for sidewalks and $250,000 for curb ramps in 2021.

In 2021, ACHD repaired and installed a total of 34 accessible pedestrian signals, which were updated in the existing pedestrian pushbutton inventory. Of the 2,290 pedestrian signals inventoried and ranked, 822 remain as high, 382 as medium, 485 as low and 601 as no deficiencies identified.

In an effort to address federal pedestrian planning guidelines and the regulatory requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ACHD adopted the Pedestrian Bicycle Transition Plan in 2005. The Pedestrian Bicycle Transition Plan was the first transition plan adopted in the State of Idaho and since its adoption, ACHD has continued working to meet standards and report improvement. The plan has since been renamed the ADA Annual Report and is updated annually. The public can access the report here.

"We have made significant progress as an agency on improvements throughout the county that impact some of our most vulnerable users," said ACHD Commission President Mary May. "We have more work ahead of us in this area, fortunately we also have a Commission and staff committed to those efforts."