Baltimore will invest $44 million in accessible sidewalks and curbs under a proposed agreement that would settle a lawsuit brought by wheelchair users and disabilities advocates. Three wheelchair users and an independent-living center for people with disabilities sued Baltimore City in 2021, claiming the city did not properly install and maintain sidewalks and curb ramps that allow them to lead active lives.Disability Rights Maryland described the three plaintiffs as being unable to participate in everyday activities outside their home safely because of the lack of accessibility created by insufficient infrastructure. Getting a snowball or volunteering in the community becomes hazardous or nearly impossible, the claim said.“Baltimore’s own data demonstrate that there are systemic barriers to the accessibility of the City’s pedestrian right-of-way. In 2019, the City conducted a multi-phase evaluation of its curb ramps. Only approximately 1.3 percent of the 37,806 surveyed curb ramps were found compliant with the ADA. Although the focus of the 2019 survey was on curb ramps, notes from that survey also document widespread problems with sidewalks, including sidewalks that were damaged or too narrow, which can make them unusable by people who use wheelchairs, scooters, and other mobility aids, so that people with mobility disabilities have to travel in the street with cars.” – Disability Rights MarylandThe settlement is part of a partial consent decree in which the city pledges to invest in pedestrian infrastructure, including improvements in sidewalks and curb ramps. The agreement also calls for the creation of a program within the Baltimore City Department of Transportation dedicated to accessibility. This new program will manage the pedestrian infrastructure investment.The agreement calls for the investments to be made over the next four years. The city will appoint an ADA coordinator who will focus solely on maintaining the pedestrian rights of way; implement a pedestrian inspection program that will monitor accessibility every 10 years; institute a maintenance program to clear clutter and vegetation on an annual basis; and will communicate with the public on the importance of accessibility on its rights of way. Terms will be renegotiated in four years to decide future investment.The agreement will be reviewed for approval at the Nov. 20 Board of Estimates meeting.“As is the case in many historic East Coast cities, the challenge posed by our City’s sidewalks and curbs long predates the Americans with Disabilities Act and adequately changing our infrastructure poses a monumental task,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott in a statement. “However, under my Administration, we are committed to taking every action necessary to set the City on track to come into compliance with the ADA, and ensure Baltimore is more accessible to our disabled community than ever before. As with every deeply-entrenched problem, achieving this goal will not happen overnight, and it will ultimately cost far more than $44 million included in this settlement. But today, we join with all of our neighbors to announce the largest move in this City’s history to make our sidewalks accessible to everyone.”