ADA Ramp Surveys in Sausalito, CA

Sausalito is two accessibility problems stacked on top of each other. Along the Bridgeway waterfront, the walk is flat, crowded, and lined with restaurants, galleries, and ferry-bound visitors, and the city has studied phased safety improvements between Napa and Johnson streets that include refuge islands and corner bulb-outs. Every bulb-out is a new curb ramp, and every new curb ramp is a new set of slopes, flares, and detectable warnings that has to be verified after construction. Above Bridgeway, the town climbs the hill on narrow streets connected by public stairways, and there the accessible route simply ends in places; what matters is documenting exactly where and how steeply, so the city and property owners can decide what is technically feasible. The city names its Public Works Director as ADA coordinator and describes an ongoing effort to identify, prioritize, and remove barriers from its programs, facilities, and public right-of-way.

The tolerances do not soften for difficult terrain. Ramp runs are capped at 8.33 percent, cross slope at 2.083 percent under the 2010 ADA Standards and 2 percent under California Building Code Chapter 11B, landings at 60 inches minimum, and curb ramp flares at 1:10. On a waterfront walk built across old fill and repaired many times, and on hillside walks that are running downhill while they drain sideways, a handheld level cannot separate the running slope from the cross slope reliably. A Trimble scan captures the whole surface at once, including stair treads and risers, retaining wall faces, and the adjoining street, and slopes come out of it computed across the full path width.

Deliverables are slope and cross-slope exhibits, change-in-level callouts, stair and handrail geometry where relevant, ramp tables against Caltrans Standard Plans A88A and A88B, and a DWG base map. We document conditions and leave certification to the CASp or architect. See ADA compliance surveys and as-built surveys in Sausalito.