Hi Sue and John
If the dropped kerb is flush there would need to be tactile paving to warn blind and partially sighted people that the kerb had been removed and therefore no distinction between the road and pavement. Vehicle crossovers to residential property should retain an upstand of 25mm and not have tactile paving. (section 1.5.4.3 of Tactile paving guidance)
Some local authorities have provided a dropped kerb for a disabled person outside their dwelling but I believe this is discretionary. I agree with John that a dropped kerb within a reasonable distance with a corresponding dropped kerb on the other side best - but may be issue of what is a reasonable distance.
hope this helps,
Carol
Carol Thomas
JMU Access Partnership
RNIB
________________________________
From: Accessibuilt list on behalf of John Gregory
Sent: Thu 12/05/2005 09:47
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACCESSIBUILT] Dropped kerb provision for disabled people
Hi sue,
Just thought i would add my penny's worth to the debate.
My own view is that there are no legal duties for highway departments to
provide such a provision outside a private dwelling. I would be inclined
toward Alan's suggestion that a general dropped crossing point be installed
within a reasonable distance of the dwelling which could be utilised by many
more people. I assume that the request was for just a single dropped kerb
without a similar one being provided opposite? The general dropped kerb
would, of course, provide an entry point as well as an exit point.
I ran this query past our Area Engineer to get his response. He replied:
"I'm sorry but I'm not sure if we have a 'duty' to provide a dropped kerb
outside a disabled person's residence but will consult my legal section and
let you know as soon as I can. What I can tell you is we have an allocation
for providing dropped kerbs for disabled people, parents pushing prams and
the elderly who find a full kerb face difficult to negotiate. We will
consider all applications we receive and prioritise them within the
available budget. Any I cannot fund all the requests I receive this
financial year (Apr 05 to Mar 06) they will role over to next financial
year."
If I receive any reply regarding the legal situation I will let you know.
Meanwhile, another factor to bear in mind is, would any such provision need
to be provided with a tactile warning surface? Driveways don't, but as you
say, this is not a driveway and presumably the resident wishes the kerb to
be flush rather than having the upstand associated with the driveway.
Hope this helps a little.
Regards.
John.
John Gregory
Access Officer
Cherwell District Council
-----Original Message-----
From: Sue Fox [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 11 May 2005 16:08
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ACCESSIBUILT] Dropped kerb provision for
disabled people
Your thoughts please..........
Do Local Authorities have any duty to provide a dropped kerb
for disabled
people outside their dwelling? The kerb would be 900mm wide,
and not for
vehicles.
Is this a reasonable adjustment under the DDA?
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