Evaluating Driveway Cross Slopes and Social Equity in Cedar City, UT

Abstract

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the most comprehensive law governing accessibility, and it requires local governments to develop transition plans to become compliant. Among the key ADA requirements is a continuous unobstructed pedestrian circulation network that consists of a sidewalk that has a cross slope of no more than two degrees. The primary objective of this research was to evaluate whether driveway cross slopes in Cedar City were ADA compliant, so a digital level was used to measure a random sample of driveway cross slopes. A secondary objective was to determine whether there is evidence of social inequities in Cedar City’s pedestrian environment. The estimated value of each residential property (a proxy for income) was retrieved from Zillow® to evaluate the statistical relationship between incomes and driveway cross slopes. The results of this study indicate that there was no widespread evidence of social inequities. However, most driveway cross slopes (78.8 percent) were not ADA compliant and, thus, require retrofitting that should incorporate more widespread use of sidewalk buffer strips. The results also highlight priority areas for sidewalk improvements and can be used to inform a transition plan for sidewalk enhancements and funding. KEYWORDS: Social Equity; ADA; Sidewalks; Advocacy Planning; Driveway Cross Slope; Walkability