The Dalles City Council accepted a bid from Van Nevel Concrete and Curb July 8 for installation of 11 new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant curb ramps at three locations in the city, at a cost of $136,986. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $89,745.
“A lot of these projects have increased in cost, because of these tight tolerances now required,” said Dale McCabe, The Dalles city engineer, in regards to the project coming in over the engineer’s estimate. “We didn’t have up-to-date numbers,” he added.
McCabe said low estimates and increased cost has been a problem throughout Oregon. The new bids will allow him to estimate future work more accurately, and suggested the costs would go down as contractors gain experience with the new tolerances and the risk associated with bidding on such projects is reduced. “Hopefully risk will decrease, and drive these numbers lower,” he explained.
Oregon Department of Transportation projects have also been bidding above engineer estimates, but that has been changing, McCabe added. “They are starting to even out.”
The 11 ramps will be constructed in three phases. The first phase will install a mid-block cross walk across E. 19th at Dry Hollow School. This project will include a reinforced concrete pad for a rapidly flashing beacon, and is scheduled for completion by Aug. 30. The second project will replace an existing non-compliant ADA curb ramp located at the east exit of the Roundabout at the base of Brewery Grade. This work was required in conjunction with an ODOT paving contract of the street in 2017, and it is scheduled for completion by Sept. 13. The third project is the installation of new ramps at all four corners of the 10th and Union intersection, adjacent to The Dalles High School property. Both streets have been paved in the recent past, triggering the obligation to have compliant ramps at the intersection. Completion is scheduled by Aug. 30, prior to the beginning of the upcoming school year.
The project is the first the city will undertake to address a federal mandate to bring ADA ramps in Oregon into compliance with federal regulations as part of a 2017 settlement in federal court regarding a lawsuit brought against ODOT by Disability Rights Oregon (DRO). An ODOT survey in 2018 showed 97 percent of agency curb ramps in Oregon violated ADA standards. According to a subsequent report by The Dalles Public Works Director Dave Anderson, the city has 1,614 curb ramps that are too steep or not level enough to comply with the ADA.
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