Detectable Warning Surface Curb Cuts

By Bruce Woolner

It is the intention of the Americans with Disabilities Act that everyone should be able to access the city streets, sidewalks, public spaces, buildings and transportation as well as commercial buildings and housing. The advent of the detectable warning surface and curb cuts are just the most recent development in the progression towards a more accessible environment for those individuals with mobility and visual impairments.

Detectable Warning Surface Curb Cuts

Initially the sidewalk or pedestrian way is elevated from the adjacent roadway or vehicular way. In order to make the sidewalk accessible to those in wheelchairs, we have created curb ramps at the end of the sidewalk. For those who are visually impaired, the ramps created a problem because in the past they could use the drop at the curb to indicate where the sidewalk ended. Now they could walk from the sidewalk down the ramp into the street without knowing it. This has led to the use of detectable warnings on the ramp surface to replace the curb where it has been cut to warn people that they are entering a vehicular way.

As we are replacing one structure with another, the goal at Advantage Tactile Systems has been to develop a product that would last at least as long as the curb it is replacing. Its stainless steel construction has proven to be the most durable material in withstanding abuse from natural and man made factors.

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