Point-by-point; Point 1

I presently have eight points to my complaint. Here is number one.

1. DOT does not have procedures required by ADA in place.
a. No self-evaluation plan for sidewalks, and
b. no ADA Compliance Officer employed.

This point is covered by the complaint I filed with USDOT .

It seems to me that an assumption is made here that pedestrian infrastructure is presently inadequate, and must be systematically repaired and renovated to provide access to people with disabilities. This situation demands a proactive approach - a plan - that includes a system-wide evaluation of pedestrian infrastructure, as SHA has already done.

MCDOT and other County Departments fully accommodate vehicles in the ROW as they execute their responsibilities. Pedestrians are often treated as an afterthought, if not completely ignored. We are people with lives and a need to use the ROW that is as urgent and real as any motorists'. There are thousands of us, and yet our needs are never fully considered, and often totally forgotten.

Our County is behind other neighbors. For all of our talk about how progressive and caring we are, we still ignore those who don't own something in the ROW. At sea, the least maneuverable craft always has the ROW. On Montgomery County roads, the slower and less-maneuverable better beware. County agencies definitely DO NOT have your back.

At least they used to pretend. The Blur Ribbon Panel was an honest mostly-successful attmpt to define the problems with pedestrian safety in Montgomery County.Like a lot of the newer laws (Forty years), the intent of the law does not always drive the change. It needs a complaint and threat of enforcement to bring the actual changes needed to remedy a wrong. The wrong needs to be unveiled. Someone needs to say enough, and inconvenience themselves to make the change happen. Something like Freedom Walkers, I guess.

AS an individual I have asked a lot of the Montgomery County Department of Transportation over the years. I took 15 years to discover that there really is only onr thing to complain about, and that it that Montgomery County government has not yet fully embraced Federal laws when it comes to their management of the ROW in their jurisdiction. The lack of a plan to deal with their deficiencies is the first indication of this violation.

The existence of an ancient transition plan from the late-80's is not proof of an attempt, it is evidence that it has not been considered since then.