Judge rules Chicago has violated ADA, must install more audible crosswalk signals
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The City of Chicago has violated the federal Americans with Disability Act, a federal judge ruled.
In a new ruling issued Friday, March 31, U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo wrote that the city needs to improve its crosswalks to help visually impaired and blind people safely cross the street – by installing devices that notify pedestrians of crossing information in formats that do not require sight.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported Thursday night, some intersections – among them State Street and Jackson Boulevard, and Inner Lake Shore Drive and Roscoe Street – have audio instructions for crossing the street.
Disability rights advocates say every signalized intersection in the city should have accessible pedestrian signals – which supplement visual signals with a noise and/or vibration. But in reality, only 33 intersections citywide have such signals.
That is about to change.
Denise Avant is blind, and relies on her ears to get across the street – not the visual cues. At most intersections, she listens for traffic patterns – but she concedes with a constant chorus of buses, cars, people, and trains – simply to get across the street safely can be a challenge.
"Sometimes it can be difficult to know when it's time to cross the street," Avant said.
There are nearly 3,000 signaled intersections in Chicago – but again, there are only 33 with accessible pedestrian signals. Compare that to 490 in San Francisco.
In 2019, Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised 100 more APS devices at Chicago intersections by 2021.
"We want to make Chicago the most inclusive and accessible city in the nation – period, no exceptions," Mayor Lightfoot said in July 2019.
Avant was even there for that announcement.
"They had information from the blind and low-vision community to let them know exactly where the signals would be helpful," she said.
Attorney Jelena Kolic is one of the attorneys behind a lawsuit advocating for more APS's.
"The court has ruled that the city of Chicago has violated federal disability rights laws," Kolic said. "Having this technology will ultimately be beneficial to all of us - and not just for the blind."
This week, Judge Bucklo found the city needs to improve safety and accessibility for people like Avant.
"It just makes no sense to me… that there should be intersections where the sighted should have the benefit of a pedestrian signal, but the blind should not," Kolic said.
"The city now will hopefully now do what it promised to do," said Avant. "People who are blind and visually impaired - this is not something we should have to wait for."
At the time of the lawsuit, there were only 11 APS intersections in the city. In 2019, more than 100 were promised.
But again, here we are in 2023 with just 33.
The City of Chicago did not respond to our request for a comment.