The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:
The City of Watertown is pleased to announce it has been awarded the Massachusetts Office on Disability’s (MOD) Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Self Evaluation and Transition Planning grant!
A recipient of the MOD’s planning grant award, Watertown will utilize the funds to conduct an evaluation of all City programs, services, and buildings, and their accessibility and compliance with ADA standards. As Watertown works to improve its access across all of its services, this grant funds the support to appropriately identify the barriers that might be impacting equal access to our City.
Once the self-evaluation is completed, the City will develop a Transition Plan which will consist of all the barriers to equal access that were identified in the self-evaluation, along with a timeline for and plan for removing them.
This is a significant step in making Watertown accessible to all, and Watertown’s ADA Coordinator Patrick George speak to what this means for Watertown and our residents: “The City is grateful to receive this grant. This affords us with the opportunity to identify and remedy physical and programmatic barriers to better align with ADA requirements and the principles of universal design.” After the completion of this project, the City will be able to take action and also qualify for additional funding opportunities to improve accessibility in our community.
This project is expected to be completed by June 2025 and the City is excited to take this important step in ensuring our programs, services, and buildings are accessible to all!