I-Team: 'Ramps To Nowhere' Removed In Billerica
BILLERICA (CBS) - Sidewalk ramps are designed to make it easier for people with disabilities to get around town.
But some recently-installed ramps in Billerica had some taxpayers shaking their heads and asking, "What were they thinking?"
At the intersection of Route 129 and Belmont Road, one new ramp sat in a bed of mulch. Down the road, another ramp was planted in someone's yard without a sidewalk in sight.
The I-Team contacted town officials and it turned out, the contractor installed the ramps by mistake during a large $8 million sewer project.
Arthur Torrey, a member of the Billerica Commission on Disabilities, said there is often confusion about where handicap-accessible ramps should be installed, according to federal requirements.
For instance, they should always connect to sidewalks or crosswalks. But a simple Google search can reveal a slideshow of perplexing ramp designs and other botched efforts to comply with ADA standards, Torrey said.
In some instances, the ramps are preemptively installed where cities and towns plan to eventually add sidewalks. It is inexpensive to add ramps on the front end of a project as opposed to retrofitting a walkway later down the road, they explained.
But in a couple of the curious Billerica locations, there were no future plans for sidewalks.
"My first reaction is it's kind of strange," Torrey said. "They tend to be overanxious to put them in, which is not a bad thing. I'd much rather have it that way than not putting them in when they're needed."
Shortly after the I-Team inquiry, the "ramps to nowhere" disappeared.
Abdul Alkhatib, the Billerica public works director, said the mistake was on the contractor's dime, and did not come at a cost to taxpayers.
Ryan Kath can be reached at rkath@cbs.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook.
