Chicago must install a greater number of acoustic signals at pedestrian crossings (VIDEO)

The City of Chicago violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. In a ruling issued on Friday, March 31, a district judge pointed out that the city must improve pedestrian crossings to help visually impaired and blind people cross the street safely. The ruling orders the installation of devices that inform pedestrians of traffic conditions in formats that do not require sight, such as audible signals and/or vibrations.

Some intersections, State Street and Jackson Boulevard, and Inner Lake Shore Drive and Roscoe Street, have audio instructions for crossing the street. Disability rights advocates state that every intersection in the city should have audible pedestrian signals, which supplement visual signals with noise and/or vibration. Currently, only 33 intersections in the city have such signals.

In Chicago, there are nearly 3,000 intersections, but there are only 33 intersections with audible pedestrian signals. Compare that to the 490 intersections with audible signals in San Francisco. In 2019, Mayor Lightfoot promised another 100 APS devices at intersections in Chicago by 2021.

„We want to make Chicago the most inclusive and accessible city in the country,“ Mayor Lightfoot said in a July 2019 statement. „Having this technology will ultimately benefit all of us, not just people who are blind.“

At the time of the lawsuit, there were only 11 APS intersections in the city. In 2019, more than 100 APS intersections were promised. In 2023, there are still only 33.

SOURCE: CBS NEWS | PHOTO: CBS NEWS