ADA Ramp Surveys in Berkeley, CA

Berkeley funds curb ramp and sidewalk repair work through recurring annual capital projects, and voters approved Measure FF in 2024 to expand street and sidewalk repair, so the volume of ramp reconstruction in the city is not slowing down. The city also has a Commission on Disability and an ADA coordinator overseeing accessibility obligations. For a contractor or a design team, the practical consequence is that ramps and the sidewalk on either side of them get looked at closely, and the difference between a passing and failing cross slope is often under a quarter inch across the landing.

Two Berkeley conditions make that harder than the numbers suggest. The first is the hills: streets above Euclid and Spruce fall steeply enough that a curb return has to shed grade somewhere, and the running slope, flare slopes, and the flat landing all compete for the same few feet. The second is the street trees. Berkeley's mature canopy has heaved and tilted sidewalk panels across the flatlands and the Southside, so an accessible route can fail on abrupt level changes and warped cross slope long before anyone looks at the ramp itself. We capture the whole run of sidewalk as a surface, not just the corner.

On private property we measure entrance ramps and thresholds, interior and exterior paths of travel, and accessible parking stalls and aisles, which the code holds nearly flat in every direction. Deliverables are slope exhibits keyed to ramp or panel, spot elevations, a plan the contractor can build from, and the registered point cloud on request. We document conditions; a CASp inspector or architect makes the compliance call. Related work: 3D laser scanning in Berkeley, Berkeley as-built surveys, and our ADA compliance survey overview.