REPORT-CalTrans-Ca

12/02/2004
Subj: Cal Trans Disability Access Violations - Various Locations
Date: 12/2/2004
From: rmskaff@comcast.net
To: michael.winter@fta.dot.gov,Brenda.Armstead@fhwa.dot.gov, frederickd.isler@fhwa.dot.gov, michelle.adams@dot.ca.gov,
CC: Alberto.Gonzalez@doj.ca.gov, Peter.Siggins@GOV.CA.GOV

12/02/04

Ms. Michelle Adams
ADA Statewide Coordinator
California Department of Transportation
Sacramento, Ca.

SUBJECT: FORMAL COMPLAINT - VARIOUS LOCATIONS - CAL TRANS FACILITIES

Ms. Adams,

I have attached a formal access complaint originally sent to you on 11/23/04. I look forward to an immediate response with correction dates and a listing of the access violations I have brought to your attention and how they will corrected. I also expect that other previously sent access complaints will finally be responded to and resolved, including the meeting locations that I have been to throughout the State used by the Cal Trans Traffic Control Device Committee which did not have the required physical or program access. It is apparent to me, from Cal Trans projects I have encountered throughout the State, that there is obviously no oversight and enforcement to assure compliance with state and federal access codes/regulations, and no quality assurance program to keep project management aware of their staff's quality of work.

It is quite obvious that Cal Trans has not made a commitment to access for persons with disabilities within their programs and facilities. As part of my complaint, please provide me with a flow chart of where your office sits within the Cal Trans administration and what authority and staffing you have. Based on the size of the Cal Trans agency, unless you, as the ADA/Disability Access Coordinator, have the Director's authority and staff to support your efforts, physical and program access violations like the ones I have filed with you, will not be resolved, and Cal Trans will continue to respond to their responsibilities in this area reactively instead of proactively. I can assure you that this will eventually lead to legal action against Cal Trans by the disability community as the only way we can assure our civil rights within Cal Trans programs and facilities.

As part of this complaint, I am also sending copies to Mr. Richard Conrad, the Acting State Architect, because that office approved the plans for at least the Brower Vista Point project. Based on our site review together (you and other Cal Trans staff and a representative from the State Architect's Office), it was obvious that the plan review left much to be desired with regard to access requirements. I look forward to a timely response from DSA.

Richard Skaff
Email: rmskaff@comcast.net
________________________________________
11/23/04

Ms. Michelle Adams
ADA Statewide Coordinator
Department of Transportation

Ms. Adams,

Although I appreciate your efforts to assure that the violations at Brower's
Vista Point are resolved, I am very concerned that Cal Trans has been aware
of the state and federal access code/regulatory violations since 2003 when I
first filed my complaint. The time and effort it has taken me personally to
get Cal Trans and the State Architect's Office to respond is completely
unacceptable.