ADA Transition Plan

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What's happening?

The City of Olympia is committed to providing equal access to its public programs, services, facilities, and activities for all citizens including those with disabilities. To achieve this end, the City is developing an ADA (American with Disabilities Act) Transition Plan in compliance with federal and state law. The ADA Transition Plan intends to:

  • Identify physical and communicative barriers in the City of Olympia’s public facilities that limit the accessibility of its programs, services, or activities to individuals with disabilities;
  • Describe the methods to be used to make the facilities, programs, or activities accessible;
  • Provide a schedule for making necessary modifications to provide better access and achieve compliance; and
  • Identify the public officials responsible for implementation of the plan.

This project builds upon prior completed work to gather inventory data of City facilities, policies, procedures and programming to satisfy the self-evaluation and assessment requirements necessary to developing the ADA Transition Plan.

We need your input!

Have an idea about how to make our City more accessible to people with limited mobility, vision, hearing, or other disabilities? Use the two tools below to help identify ADA barriers in the following areas:

  • City services, programs, and activities
  • City buildings and facilities
  • City public right-of-way (streets and sidewalks)

We would especially value input from:

  • Individuals with disabilities;
  • Senior citizens;
  • Individuals that encounter accessibility barriers such as parents/family members/friends of individuals with disabilities;
  • Members of groups that provide services or transportation to individuals with disabilities;
  • Individuals with experience and knowledge of ADA planning and requirements.

What's next?

After the public input period, a Draft ADA Transition is anticipated to be posted here in May 2020. The draft will be available for public comment before a final draft is submitted to the City Council.


What's happening?

The City of Olympia is committed to providing equal access to its public programs, services, facilities, and activities for all citizens including those with disabilities. To achieve this end, the City is developing an ADA (American with Disabilities Act) Transition Plan in compliance with federal and state law. The ADA Transition Plan intends to:

  • Identify physical and communicative barriers in the City of Olympia’s public facilities that limit the accessibility of its programs, services, or activities to individuals with disabilities;
  • Describe the methods to be used to make the facilities, programs, or activities accessible;
  • Provide a schedule for making necessary modifications to provide better access and achieve compliance; and
  • Identify the public officials responsible for implementation of the plan.

This project builds upon prior completed work to gather inventory data of City facilities, policies, procedures and programming to satisfy the self-evaluation and assessment requirements necessary to developing the ADA Transition Plan.

We need your input!

Have an idea about how to make our City more accessible to people with limited mobility, vision, hearing, or other disabilities? Use the two tools below to help identify ADA barriers in the following areas:

  • City services, programs, and activities
  • City buildings and facilities
  • City public right-of-way (streets and sidewalks)

We would especially value input from:

  • Individuals with disabilities;
  • Senior citizens;
  • Individuals that encounter accessibility barriers such as parents/family members/friends of individuals with disabilities;
  • Members of groups that provide services or transportation to individuals with disabilities;
  • Individuals with experience and knowledge of ADA planning and requirements.

What's next?

After the public input period, a Draft ADA Transition is anticipated to be posted here in May 2020. The draft will be available for public comment before a final draft is submitted to the City Council.


Share Your Story

Tell us about any barriers related to City services, programs or activities - and any barriers related to City buildings and facilities.

Start by adding a brief, descriptive title in the box below, then write the full story. You can also add photos if it helps identify the barrier.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) barriers related to City services, programs, and activities include but are not limited to access to information, participation in eligible activities, appropriate accommodations upon request, etc.

Physical ADA barriers in city buildings include but are not limited to inaccessible doorways, bathrooms, counter heights, etc.

Thank you for sharing your story. Your feedback will help us develop a draft ADA Transition Plan, which will be available for review later this year.

You need to be signed in to share your story.

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    Public education and creative solutions should be a priority when addressing physical barriers.

    by Andrew Hannah, 3 months ago

    There seems to be nearly a complete lack of public awareness regarding accessible sidewalks in the residential areas all over Olympia. The problem seems to be particularly egregious in the residential areas adjacent to downtown, up both the west and east side hills and in southeast Olympia. some examples are homeowners planting gardens between the sidewalk and the road, by midsummer they block half of the already too narrow sidewalks. Property owners are routinely allowed to neglect maintenance of their bushes, shrubs and blackberry vines that obstruct sidewalks. It's nearly impossible to get anything done about it through the city... Continue reading

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    Design right of ways for people first

    by bwilcock, 3 months ago

    I have noticed that our streets are designed with a priority to move cars quickly instead of moving people safely. I also have seen infrastructure for people driving and storing their cars invade and impede the limited space remaining for people outside of vehicles. Excellent grade separated facilities for people using feet or wheels to get around just dead end at car sewers instead of continuing all the way to trip generating destinations. I plan to walk around my neighborhood today to take some photos of cliff drop corners that would be disastrous for people who have difficulty navigating grade... Continue reading

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    Evening handicap parking

    by Dennis_Wicks, 3 months ago

    I believe the ADA states that for every so many parking spaces there hast to be a certain ratio of handicap spaces. How many parking spaces does the city maintain? There must be well over 700 in the downtown area alone.

    Handicap parking during normal business hours is no problem as we can park in any metered space for free by state law. But after hours we’re simply out of luck. I used to be an annual subscription holder for the performances at the Washington Center For The Performing Arts. But having missed too many performances because I had to... Continue reading

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    Senior Parking Boardwalk apartments

    by Teri H, 3 months ago

    I live downtown in the Boardwalk Apartments for Seniors. Both of our building are at full metal capacity and parking lot spaces are limited so many of us have purchased permits to park on the side streets. Recently however with the new construction/demolition going on in the neighborhood and an upsurge of illegal RV parking and drug dealing out of these vehicles, we are losing the parking spaces we so desperately need. There has been a rise in breaking into cars and intimidating and physically threatening behaviors towards this very vulnerable segment of the community. People are feeling that their... Continue reading

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    City Service Access Online

    by booklady314, 4 months ago

    While the web site is more accessible than most state web sites. It is not compliant with federal 508 requirements. It is very frustrating to navigate without the ability to use a mouse or for those with limited visual abilities. Almost 20% of our residents access this web site differently. These are also the residents who find it the most difficult to access services in person and rely on the internet the most. It would be nice if the city invested time and money in becoming WCAG 2.1 AA compliant. I'm happy to discuss this further if someone wants to... Continue reading

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    A few quick ideas...

    by Courtney Goldenberg, 4 months ago

    As a person with a life-long mobility impairment, I feel strongly that there is a need to provide better city-wide ADA accommodations. Throughout Olympia you see broken and uneven sidewalks, overgrown trees and bushes that block sidewalk access, and curbs or steps without ADA access points or railing. There should be sound notifications at every lighted crosswalk for the visually impaired, especially throughout our downtown core. When downtown at night, I struggle with my balance and coordination from lack of overhead streetlights or other sufficient lighting. Even in the downtown community center, the elevator is small and old, and considering... Continue reading

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    Garbage and junk piles up in home

    by Nathansmama, 4 months ago

    As a citizen with a disability, it is so difficult to get rid of garbage in Olympia. My teenage son was helping a friend on home dialysis to get rid of used supplies, but she finally had to move to a different city. Our last city had one or two days a year when the city would pick up excessive garbage and you could clean out the garage. Garbage every two weeks isn't often enough and we store things like chicken carcasses in the freezer. We tried driving to the dump but I was not physically able to do it... Continue reading

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    Streets are dangerous

    by Vtowne , 4 months ago

    Ok, I’m senior and disabled, our streets and sidewalks are traps. Walking with a walker, or riding a wheelchair, bumps and angles and drops and rises until your teeth rattle.

    I have fallen next to the Columbia Center in the evening and people didn’t stop to help. I’ve had my walker collapse walking down the sidewalk due to the roughness of the surface. the wheelchair jerked and tilted crossing a railroad crossing not far from city hall.

    others at the senior center have commented on the rough sidewalks.

    Another complaint isn’t the lack of handicap parking around the center With... Continue reading