UPDATE: Woodridge Park District to Improve Accessibility

UPDATE: The Park District's Accessibility Plan is posted online.

---

The Woodridge Park District has a new plan to make its parks more accessible for those with disabilities.

The Woodridge Park District Board approved an American with Disabilities Act (ADA) transition plan at the Board's monthly meeting Tuesday night. The plan lists every barrier at every park in Woodridge -- from branches that hang too low and portable restrooms in hard-to-get-to locations to fixing uneven pathways.

The rough cost for fixing everything would be $2 million, said Mike Adams, executive director of the Woodridge Park District, at Tuesday's meeting.

But not everything has to be fixed. The ADA requires there to be at least one minimum accessible route per facility. If there are currently multiple inaccessible routes at a site, only one needs to be fixed.

Adam said there isn't a specific timetable to make every correction. The Park District is prioritizing the most glaring problems, and the majority of the problems will be fixed with the next scheduled replacement date.

The Park District contracted Accessibility Consultation and Training Services in Wheaton to conduct the comprehensive review last fall. Mark Trieglaff, the consultant who performed the evaluation, presented the plan at the District's All Staff Meeting last December.

While there is certainly work to be done, Trieglaff said Woodridge is still "in pretty good shape."

"A lot of things are not that serious," Trieglaff said. Many of the problems require there to be an easier way to get from the parking lot into the park – not an unusual problem, he said.

"Woodridge really gets it," Trieglaff said. "They're very proactive and work hard to make it right."

He said Forest Glen Park is a model for accessible parks. "The park has received a lot of recognition as being one of the best accessible parks in the country," he said.

Adam said he's also confident with Woodridge's progress.  "We're doing pretty well," Adams said. "We're lucky we have landscape architects who are in tune with  [ADA standards] when they are designing parks so we avoid having to make changes later."

Woodridge underwent the review because it is required for recognition as a Distinguished Agency by the Illinois Association of Park Districts. Also, Woodridge's last plan was drafted in 1991.

Drafting the plan now puts Woodridge Park District is ahead of the game, Trieglaff said. Many park districts in the country are still unsure of what a transition plan is, he said.

Park Districts will have to learn, though, in accordance with new regulations recently approved by the Department of Justice. The new revisions made to the ADA Act will make ADA accessibility standards for facilities like pools, playground and golf courses enforceable by March 2012.

The Woodridge Park District will post the Transition Plan to the District's website to gather comments and insight from the public.