MOVEBR Expands Accessibility Across East Baton Rouge Parish

I’m pleased to announce our MOVEBR program has completed 21 ADA construction projects, including repairing more than 13 miles of sidewalks to make it easier and safer for people of all abilities to move around. These upgrades are part of our Community Enhancement Projects and include improvements such as wheelchair ramps, wider sidewalks, audible pedestrian signals, crosswalk striping, and more.

The projects addressed 2,693 barriers to access, upgraded 192 intersections, added 903 ADA-compliant ramps and repaired 31,431 square yards of sidewalk—equivalent to nearly 13.4 miles of four-foot-wide sidewalk.

Cities must maintain a plan to address upgrades to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and report progress on its ADA Transition Plan, and these MOVEBR projects are a big step toward moving our City-Parish in the right direction.

In some cases, curb ramps were too steep, too narrow or did not exist. Sidewalks and driveways crossing them were repaired to make the sidewalks accessible. Many of these projects also improved access to existing or planned bus stops, especially along the new BRapid bus rapid transit service currently under construction by the MOVEBR program.

MOVEBR is building better to safely accommodate everyone by removing barriers and improving the places people use every day to walk, bike and get around. These ADA construction projects are helping to connect neighbors to schools, churches, shopping and other everyday destinations.

The 21 projects include Florida Street, Fuqua Street/Gracie Street, Fairfields Avenue, Evangeline Street, Chippewa Street, Winbourne Avenue, Mohican Street, Clayton Street, Beech Street, Hollywood Street, Main Street, Laurel Street/Lafayette Street, North Boulevard, South Boulevard, East Boulevard, West McKinley Street/Aster Street, Choctaw Drive, Douglas Avenue and other project areas.