Bend Set To Settle Transit Disabled-Access Lawsuit

The city of Bend and a group representing several disabled residents are ready to settle a federal lawsuit filed against the city last fall by agreeing on steps to be taken in coming years to make Bend Area Transit bus stops accessible to people with disabilities.

City councilors are scheduled Wednesday night to review the proposed settlement with the Oregon Advocacy Center in the suit filed last December on behalf of eight plaintiffs, alleging many of the BAT bust stops violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Under the proposed agreement, the city would be required to have 70 percent of its bus stops ADA-compliant within three years and all of them within five years. The requirements include an accessible route to the street, sidewalk or pedestrian way, and a firm, stable surface, with no significant slope. Where no sidewalks exist, the city must remove grass and provide a level surface to deploy wheelchair lifts.

By September 2014, the city must have two ADA-compliant curb ramps at each bus stop near “key facilities,” such as hotels, downtown, government offices and high-use areas. The city doesn’t have to build or replace sidewalks, but must maintain them and remove obstacles such as mailboxes and signs from sidewalks near bus stops.

The curb ramp requirement has the same deadline as a settlement agreement reached previously with the federal Department of Justice over another disabled-access lawsuit against the city.

To implement the requirement, the city agrees that half of the budgeted funds for curb ramp upgrades each year be dedicated to transit-related curb ramps.

In a related issue, councilors will hold a work session Monday night and are scheduled to hold a public hearing Wednesday on proposed route and schedule changes to the BAT system, turning two of the routes (5 and 6) into looped routes that will cover more of the city, especially the southeast area, including the Bend Senior Center and residents on 15th and 27th streets. The changes won’t add to the system’s costs, officials said.