My wife and I are wheelchair-bound and noticed that many sidewalks lack ADA ramps. Can we request them from the city?

The City also looks into specific situations by request and determines if and when we can install new ramps at those locations. Residents can contact David Littlejohn in our Department of Community Services (dlittlejohn@carmel.in.gov) directly to request new ramps at intersections or they can report them through the Accessibility Improvement report option in the MyCarmel App for your smart phone.

It is important to remember that ADA standards for things like this did not come into place until 1991. Any neighborhoods developed before the 90’s – and Carmel has plenty of those – may not have ramps. The standards were updated again in 2010 and went into effect in 2012. The newer (2012) standards are what the City currently uses, but any neighborhood built before 2012 may still have ramps that only comply with the standards that were adopted in the 90’s if they were built between 1991 – 2012.

It is important to remember that ADA standards for things like this did not come into place until 1991.

The policy of reconstructing ramps along with repaving projects has allowed the City to retrofit ramps at intersections in the older neighborhoods and bring them into compliance with the current standards.

Authored by Laura Campbell, Sue Finkam, Kevin Rider, Jeff Worrell, Miles Nelson, Anthony Green and Adam Aasen.