35 Years of the ADA: Let’s Prioritize Accessibility and Safety on Our Streets

Last week marked the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—a landmark civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and requires equal access to employment, public services, transportation, and public spaces. Born out of decades of grassroots organizing and inspired in part by the broader civil rights movement, the ADA promised a future of accessibility and inclusion, sparking hope among disability rights advocates nationwide.

And yet, 35 years after its passage on July 26, 1990, the fight for accessibility continues. As a new federal safety initiative takes shape, we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to make sure accessibility needs are front and center.

SAFE ROADS or Distraction?

Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched a new safety initiative called SAFE ROADS, aimed at improving some of the most dangerous streets in the country: busy arterial roads that run through cities and towns. These wide, fast-moving roads aren’t highways, but they’re often major routes for cars, buses, and deliveries—and they’ve seen a sharp rise in traffic deaths, especially among people walking and biking.

That mission sounds promising at first. But buried in the initiative is a worrying emphasis on “distraction-reducing strategies,” including a likely crackdown on street art such as murals in crosswalks that express community pride or promote social justice. In a time when traffic violence continues to rise, especially for people biking and walking in underserved communities, safety efforts should be focused on impact, not harmless aesthetics.

A Better Use of Compliance Checks

As League member and ambulatory wheelchair user Steven Hardy-Braz put it: what if we used this initiative to identify real compliance failures? Like the millions of sidewalks across the U.S. that still lack ADA-required curb ramps—or have ramps that are broken, misaligned, or impassable for people using mobility devices.

Steven shared data from his home state of North Carolina’s Department of Transportation, which shows just how deep the problem goes. Of 87,000 curb ramp locations identified, over 10% were inventoried as “missing ramps” that had never been installed to begin with. Of those curb ramps that do exist, 62% were non-compliant with federal standards.

And that’s just the state-managed roads—those numbers don’t even account for thousands of ramps (or missing ramps) on local and county roads. Multiply that across 50 states, and we’re looking at millions of missing or inaccessible curb ramps, decades after they were mandated by law. It’s a widespread issue; on average, 65% of curb ramps and 48% of sidewalks across the nation are not fully accessible to people who struggle with mobility (National League of Cities, 2023).

Improving curb ramps may sound like a narrow fix, but it’s anything but. It’s a powerful example of the curb-cut effect, a term that describes how changes designed to help one group often end up benefiting many. Curb cuts, first championed by disabled activists, don’t just help wheelchair users. They also make life easier for people pushing strollers, pulling rolling suitcases, making deliveries, biking with kids, or navigating streets as older adults. They help everyone get around more easily, with more dignity and more freedom.

That idea—that building for equity helps everyone—has a long history. If you want to learn more, this blog from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is a great place to start: “Smashing Barriers: Access, Disability Activism, and the Curb-Cut Effect.”

Many of the fixes—curb ramps, accessible crosswalks and signals, proper slopes, tactile detection plates—have been legally required for decades, yet millions remain missing or out of compliance. SAFE ROADS asks each state DOT to submit a list of high-priority arterial segments and intersections to improve by Fiscal Year 2026. This is an opportunity to speak up and urge your state DOT and MPOs to use existing safety assessments (like the Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) to prioritize real safety and accessibility upgrades.

As Steven Hardy-Braz urges, let’s use this opportunity to ensure that all accessibility compliance concerns are included. We have the knowledge, tools, and legal foundation to make real progress. Now it’s time to act—making our streets, sidewalks, and intersections safe and accessible for everyone.