L.A. Launches Sidewalk Ramp Project to Aid the Disabled
07/29/99
Using tobacco settlement money, officials plan to install 40,000 curb cuts for wheelchair users.
Boyle Heights resident Juan Villafuerte beamed as he watched wet concrete splatter onto a neighborhood street Wednesday.
"That's beautiful," said Villafuerte, sitting in his wheelchair, as city workers smoothed the concrete to create a ramp at the edge of the sidewalk.
The new curb cut at Fickett Street and Wabash Avenue is one of 40,000 the city of Los Angeles plans to install as part of a newly aggressive effort to finally comply with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.
City officials say they will use $50 million from a national settlement with tobacco companies over the next five years to create wheelchair ramps at corners across Los Angeles. About 7,200 will be built this year in priority areas near transit corridors, schools and public buildings.
Cigarettes
