Improvements to the sidewalks and access points in and around the municipal buildings in West Windsor are scheduled to begin in the spring.
According to the township’s Business Administrator Robert Hary, the improvements will be made as part of the township’s sidewalk extension program, which was recently passed when the capital budget was approved.
The amount budgeted for the improvements falls just under $100,000, “for sidewalks throughout the neighborhood, and also including a partial upgrade to the municipal building site, especially near the entrance to the building, where some sidewalks have depressed,” said Hary. Work will also be done to critical parts of the pathways from the parking lot to the main sidewalk.
The subject of the township’s compliance with ADA regulations (Americans with Disabilities Act) were brought to the spotlight after a group of residents submitted a report earlier this year to West Windsor officials, detailing what they said was a lack of ADA compliance on the township’s part.
The group presented the findings of a partial audit to determine which items in the township’s ADA Transition Plan — adopted in 1992 — had yet to be rectified.
At the municipal building, the group found that the main public entrance doors are compliant and that the main public entrance ramp is compliant, although the distance of the nearest curb ramp to the beginning of the building’s access ramp is over 100 feet.
The audit also stated that “there are many issues with the sidewalks, particularly the one between the municipal building and the courthouse/police station,” the group wrote. “These include broken paving slabs, excessive grades, excessive steps, obstructions, and insufficient clearance.”
West Windsor officials, however, have made some recent ADA improvements already. They pointed to the recently upgraded wheelchair access to the municipal building vestibule and installation of an ADA-compliant door at the senior center.
