Sidewalk closed at Liberty and Main in downtown Ann Arbor for curb ramp work

The southeast corner of Liberty and Main streets in downtown Ann Arbor remains closed to sidewalk traffic as crews work to install handicap-accessible curb ramps.

Robert Saladino of the Ann Arbor-based Saladino Construction Co. said work on the corner began on Tuesday and should be finished within a few days.

He said the other three corners at the intersection already have had the same work done to become handicap-accessible.

City officials weren't available late Tuesday afternoon to provide further information, but records show the city has a $576,000 ongoing contract with Saladino Construction for miscellaneous concrete work that includes curbs, gutters, sidewalks, corner ramps and driveway approaches.

The City Council originally approved a $426,000 contract with the company in August 2012 and then approved a $150,000 change order this May.

Matt Warba, the city's acting field operations manager, wrote in a memo to council that city staff identified a number of additional repairs that required the additional allocation.

The city remains under a consent decree stemming from a lawsuit brought by Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living to bring all corner curb ramps into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act on streets that were resurfaced or reconstructed between 1992 and 2004.

The work must be done by the year 2018, though it's uncertain if the work being done at Liberty and Main is related to the consent decree.

The center claimed in its August 2004 lawsuit that the city had failed to build curb ramps according to federal and state accessibility guidelines and standards. The suit alleged the city's failure resulted in unsafe sidewalks and intersections for people using wheelchairs.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.