Employees from the Alaska Department of Transportation &Public Facilities got a different look at downtown Juneau on Tuesday.
As part of a training program funded by the Federal Highway Administration, ADOT&PF employees moved around downtown with the use of wheelchairs, walkers and other items to simulate what it’s like for those with disabilities and limited mobility. This training, ADOT&PF Regional Construction Engineer Vic Winters said, happens every couple of years as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to give employees a firsthand look of the challenges faced by those with disabilities on sidewalks and crosswalks.
Winters said he’s participated in the training before, but he took on a new challenge this year. He walked the sidewalks with a blindfold and a cane.
“This is the first time I tried the visual impairment, and it was definitely a challenge,” Winters said. “It’s surprising how difficult it is to orient yourself, and especially when you’re around traffic, it’s hard to figure out.”
The exercise is only a small part of the training, which is a two-day event led this year by an expert from Colorado, Winters said. They’ll continue meeting Wednesday and discussing ways to better design pedestrian walkways.
Winters said the exercise was particularly interesting Tuesday because of the City and Borough of Juneau’s construction project on Front Street. The construction, as part of the city’s downtown street improvement plan, has cut off vehicle traffic on Front Street from Seward Street to Front Street. Pedestrian traffic is still allowed, but getting on and off the sidewalks near the construction zone can be a challenge for those with limited mobility, Winters and others noticed.
Attendees have talked about the possibility of doing this exercise with contractors in the future, just to give them a better understanding of why sidewalks and pedestrian crossings are designed the way they are, Winters said.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
