Universal Access for all Bend Citizens - CC

Hello and welcome to CityEdition
the city of Bend's video news magazine.
I'm Justin Finestone. It's called
universal access and it's one of the
main goals of the city's accessibility program
and while you might see lots of curb ramps
construction going on around the city
it's much more than that.
(construction sounds)
Universal access is an
approach to design
to be inclusive for all people
in the environment. Everything from our
homes to where we are
today with sidewalks and curbramps
and getting in and out of buildings
so that's it's just inclusive and seamless.
Today we're standing in front of a
construction site of the new
intermodal center which is our new
transit intermodal center
and it is going to be the
service center, the pulse, if you will,
of interfacing all the different modes
of transportation we have, all the way from
taxis to our fixed route bus system.
Universal access is very
important to this family transportation center
first of all it's just good design
and the right thing to do but it fits
and interfaces with the
transportation plan.
The city of Bend has really
prioritized infrastructure
policies and the importance of
curb ramps is one of those
The benefits of these projects
happen to be universal access
throughout the community and
jobs for our local economy.
putting private companies
back to work.
The city of Bend accessibility
committee was formed in April of this year
COBAAC is a group of 9 members
put together by the city
to provide guidance to
in relation to accessibility issues
to city council and city manager.
The purpose of COBAAC is to
prioritize the important projects
throughout the city and to really
explain that to council for an understanding
of how to move forward.
Of the 9 members of COBAAC
there's a wide range of folks
from some people in the
engineering and architecture field
over half of the members are people
with disabilities representing this vital
topic. COBAAC has
decided on three
specific tasks and
first one is to help develop a sidewalk
program within the city
the second one is to work on
business educational outreach
the third on is
to promote universal design
in affordable
housing and incorporate those elements
in future projects. We have
home loan modification loan program
for families
with people with disabilities
to work with disabilities as well
as our senior population to be able
enhance quality of life in their homes.
Looking back over the construction
season, we've provided jobs
for local contractors
and accomplished
more steps toward universal access
for the residents of Bend. COBAAC
is very pleased to see the improvements
and dedication of the city
has been working on
to complete all the improvements that have happened
The end of this year we will have
improved over 500 curb ramps
by the end of this year.