There has been some information shared via Facebook in the past several months that we believe inaccurately reflects the work the city of Grinnell and our partners have done regarding sidewalk ramps at street intersections.  The following information was collected and made available by the Grinnell Building and Planning Department.

There are currently 1,081 sidewalk approaches at street intersections in Grinnell. Of those 1,081 sidewalk approaches, 974 include ramps but not all ramps have the truncated domes. There are 453 fully ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant ramps including the appropriate truncated domes. As percentages, 90.2% of the sidewalk approaches have ramps, 42% are fully ADA compliant, and 9.8% do not have a ramp or truncated domes. Truncated domes were an additional requirement first introduced in 1991 and modified several times since.

The city has long had a program to improve these sidewalk ramps when requested and as part of street improvement projects. Here is some information about some past, current, and future street projects as they relate to improving sidewalk approaches and ramps.

*There are other future street projects that will improve additional approaches but we are only listing one here as an example. There are also many others that have been improved as part of other street projects and projects specifically for ramp improvements.

The city of Grinnell also budgeted $50,000 in Fiscal Year 2017-18 to address sidewalk improvements and some of these funds will go to making improvements to ramps. There was recently a request made by a handicapped resident of the Spaulding Lofts to improve the sidewalk from the Spaulding Lofts to Grinnell Regional Medical Center. Duane Neff, Grinnell Building and Planning Director, coordinated these improvements as requested at a cost of $4,300. These types of requests have been acted upon as soon as possible.