The city of San Francisco is ramping up its efforts to become a friendlier city for people with physical handicaps.
In a statement released Tuesday, the Department of Public Works details its partnership with the Mayor’s Office on Disability (MOD) to launch a campaign which encourages San Francisco residents who require the use of a walker, wheelchair or scooter in order to get around to make requests for the installment of curb ramps in areas of the city where they are most needed.
“Curb ramps are crucial for people with disabilities to travel to nearby bus stops, schools, or to their neighborhood store,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom in the press release. “Working with DPW and the Mayor’s Office on Disability, we will continue to identify long-term funding sources for the ongoing installation of curb ramps so every individual has equal access to the public right of way.”
Although nearly 90% of all intersections in San Francisco already have curb ramps or do not need them because they don’t have pedestrian crossings, the DPW says that many of them are old and do not meet federal guidelines. Their goal is to install or replace curb ramps on 46% of San Francisco streetcorners over the next ten to twenty years.
If you wish to make a request for the installation or replacement of a curb ramp in San Francisco, you can call 311 or contact DPW Disability Access Coordinator Kevin Jensen at (415) 557-4685 or at kevin.jensen@sfdpw.org.
