ADA Ramp Surveys in Concord, CA

Concord has done more documented accessibility planning than most cities its size. The City adopted an ADA Transition Plan in 1993 and an ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan Update in 2009, and public sidewalks, curb ramps, and the pedestrian features of existing signalized intersections were added to that plan. Downtown, the Downtown Corridors Project reworked the blocks around Todos Santos Plaza, with upgraded curb ramps at multiple intersections, widened sidewalk on the Salvio Pacheco Square side of Salvio Street, replacement of brick crosswalks with concrete, and decorative crossings at Salvio and Adobe. Add the Concord BART station area a few blocks away, and you have exactly the environment that produces accessibility questions: high pedestrian volume, decorative paving, frequent construction, and routes that pass between city right of way, transit property, and private frontage.

Decorative and unit paving is worth calling out, because it is where measured data separates from assumed data. A pattern of pavers or a stamped crossing can meet its design slope and still fail a running-slope check once the joints settle, and a single level reading will not find it. We measure the route as a surface. Dense scan or total-station observation tied to survey control lets us compute running slope across the full run, cross slope across the panel, and landing slopes in both directions, and it lets us come back a year later on the same control to see whether a surface has moved.

For private property in Concord, the work is accessible parking and path of travel: stalls and access aisles that must stay within 1:48 in all directions, ramp runs at 1:12 maximum, landings at least 60 inches long, and the connection out to the public sidewalk. Deliverables are slope and cross-slope exhibits, colorized surface maps, spot elevations, and CAD. See also Concord 3D scanning and Concord topographic surveys.