Investigations
Judge Orders Chicago to Speed Up Efforts to Make Crosswalks Accessible to Blind Pedestrians; Just 85 of 2,713 Intersections Upgraded
An accessible pedestrian signal, or APS, at the intersection of Lincoln and Catalpa avenues on March 13, 2025. (Nick Blumberg / WTTW News)
A federal judge this week ordered the city of Chicago to make about 71% of its 2,713 signalized intersections with pedestrian crossings accessible to people who are blind or have low vision within 10 years — with the remainder made accessible within a further five years.
The order comes after a 2023 ruling in federal court that Chicago’s long-running failure to protect blind pedestrians violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, following on the heels of a similar ruling in New York City. Judge Elaine Bucklo’s opinion chided the city for years of scattershot, unfulfilled promises to install accessible pedestrian signals, known as APS. Those use audio cues to help people with visual disabilities know when it’s safe to cross.
“Most sighted people take for granted the fact that when they’re walking outside in busy urban environments that they have these visual walk or don’t walk signals to let them know when it’s safe to cross the street,” said Madeleine Reichman, a senior staff attorney with Disability Rights Advocates, which represented the plaintiffs in the class action. “The information these (accessible) signals provide is so crucial, not just for public safety, but for independence.”
Attorneys for Chicago had argued to Bucklo that the ADA and Rehabilitation Act didn’t apply to crosswalks as the lawyers representing blind pedestrians said they did. And they told the judge that plans for significant upgrades were in the works — a position she didn’t buy.
“All but admitting that the present distribution of APS across its signalized intersections fails to afford blind pedestrians meaningful access to its traffic signaling network, the City emphasizes its plans for future APS installations,” Bucklo wrote. “(But) if the undisputed record establishes anything, it is that the City’s plans in this area have not come to fruition.”
In her proposed remedial plan, Judge LaShonda Hunt called for an independent monitor, said the city must install APS at any intersection receiving a new pedestrian signal and ordered Chicago to prioritize adding APS at existing signalized intersections where there’s an outstanding request; any intersection where signal equipment is modernized; intersections that are especially dangerous for people with visual disabilities; and intersections within 1/8 mile of public transportation and public facilities like hospitals, schools, parks, libraries and more.
Hunt’s proposed plan calls for the city to install APS at a minimum of 75 intersections this year, 110 intersections each year in 2026 and 2027, 150 intersections each year in 2028 and 2029, 195 intersections in 2030, 220 intersections in 2031, and 240 intersections each year in 2032, 2033 and 2034. The order also directs the city to install APS at 200 intersections identified by a citizen advisory committee. After completing that first phase, the city can request to extend or eliminate the second, five-year phase if it demonstrates blind pedestrians have been granted “meaningful access.”
“While we’re not particularly thrilled with that piece of the order, it is similar to what was ordered in the New York case,” Reichman said. “We’ll just have to see what Chicago does with that when we get to that point in the remedial plan.”
Hunt’s proposed order calls for the city and plaintiffs’ attorneys to suggest changes to the plan and an independent monitor. A hearing is scheduled for April 29 to finalize the plan — but in the meantime, the judge ordered Chicago to immediately start complying with her proposed overhaul.
That’ll be a drastic shift from the city’s current pace of APS upgrades, according to information provided to WTTW News. While Chicago made more crosswalks accessible to blind and low-vision pedestrians in 2024 than in previous years, those accessible intersections still make up a vanishingly small portion of the city’s signalized crossings.
Last year, the city added 36 accessible pedestrian signals, or APS, the Chicago Department of Transportation said. That brings the total number of accessible signals to just 85 out of the 2,713 signalized intersections with pedestrian crossings that the city maintains.
That outpaces the nine signals the city installed in 2022 and 12 added in 2023, which fell far short of the city’s own goal to install 150 APS across those two years. In early 2024, CDOT told WTTW News it had 135 APS “in various stages of construction, design, or procurement,” far more than the 36 it added.
“It is disappointing that we haven’t seen more APS installed recently, but we were pleased to see that the court ordered Chicago to start complying with the yearly minimum requirement for 2025 that’s in this proposed order, even though the remedial order has not been finalized,” Reichman said. “Even though it has been taking them some time, we’re really hoping that they’ve at least learned from each of those installations and that that will help them meet the 75 intersection requirement that they have to comply with this year and then ramp up going forward.”
In a proposed remedial plan submitted last year, plaintiffs’ attorneys asked the judge to mandate that Chicago equip all its signalized intersections with APS within 10 years.
The remedial plan submitted by the city of Chicago asked for a 15-year timeline to outfit with APS just 1,730 of the city’s 2,713 signalized intersections. The filing also said the plan accounts for “an additional 200 intersections that the blind and low vision community will identify, through a community engagement process, that present real concerns to the community.”
That community of blind and low-vision Chicagoans numbers nearly 70,000 according to the most recent Census Bureau data available — and more than 120,000 people in Cook County.
The judge’s order essentially combines the number of upgrades proposed by the city — as a first phase — with the timeline set forth by the plaintiffs. It also contains numerous provisions aimed to ensure compliance and that APS are properly maintained.
“We’re particularly pleased with this, because compliance and maintenance have become somewhat of an issue in the New York City APS, and that case has evolved to include a similar type of maintenance and compliance program,” Reichman said. “It’s really great that we have this right off of the bat to prevent any major issues.”
In the absence of accessible signals, blind pedestrians instead listen for traffic parallel to them to start moving, indicating a green light and a walk signal. But in a noisy environment like Chicago, listening for parallel traffic isn’t a sure bet. Some pedestrians are also forced to ask strangers for help — and others curtail trips or skip them altogether, limiting their ability to move independently to the detriment of their quality of life.
As of January, payment data obtained by WTTW News showed that the city had spent more than $4.2 million on outside attorneys to defend Chicago’s losing position. That money could instead have paid for as many as 85 additional accessible pedestrian signals, according to the city’s cost estimates.
Before the judge’s order, CDOT told WTTW News it plans to install new APS at “upwards of 40 intersections” in 2025.
“The City of Chicago fully recognizes the importance of Accessible Pedestrian Signals in ensuring an accessible public way,” a CDOT spokesperson told WTTW News in a statement. “CDOT incorporates APS signals into all new traffic signal installations, roadway reconstruction projects, and signal modernization projects. The department currently has 160 intersections where APS is in various stages of construction, design, or procurement with 85 completed locations and will be commencing a citywide retrofit program, which we cannot comment on further due to ongoing litigation.”
“A lot of our clients in this case have either been hit by cars because there were no accessible pedestrian signals, or have had their canes or guide dogs hit by cars, or have had near misses with cars,” Reichman said. “The fact that we’re going to be getting accessible pedestrian signals at all intersections with pedestrian signals is really exciting.”
CDOT did not immediately provide further comment after the judge’s order was issued.
Contact Nick Blumberg: [email protected] | (773) 509-5434 | @ndblumberg
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