The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enacted on July 26, 1990, and as amended, provides comprehensive civil rights protections to persons with disabilities in the areas of employment, state and local government services (public services), public accommodation by private entities, telecommunications, and other  public accommodations provided by private and public entities.. The ADA is a companion civil rights legislation with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This legislation mandates that qualified disabled individuals shall not be excluded from participation in, denied the benefit of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity.  

The ADA is divided into five parts, covering the following areas: 
Title I: EMPLOYMENT 
Title II: PUBLIC SERVICES 
Title III: PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS 
Title IV: TELECOMMUNICATIONS 
Title V: MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

DEFINITION OF DISABILITY 
In the ADA, the term “disability” means, with respect to an individual: 
1) A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; 
2) A record of such an impairment; or 
3) Being regarded as having such an impairment. 
If an individual meets any one of these three tests, he or she is considered to be an individual with a disability for purposes of coverage under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Final Rules of the ADA (see link under Resources at bottom of the page) describe in greater detail the conditions included and excluded as disabilities under the ADA, and these rules should be referred to if more detailed descriptions of covered disabilities is desired.

Title II of the ADA Act covers public services and applies to the City of Kenmore.

The City Engineer and the Public Works Engineering division of the City of Kenmore focus on Title II, Public Services.  Title II prohibits state and local governments from discriminating against persons with disabilities or from excluding participation in or denying benefits of programs, services, or activities to persons with disabilities.  This title dictates that a public entity must evaluate its services, programs, policies, and practices to determine whether they are in compliance with the nondiscrimination regulations of the ADA.  To comply with this requirement, the City conducted an inventory of its facilities within the right of way.  With this information and input gathered from the public, the ADA Transition Plan was created.  The ADA Transition Plan identifies facilities that are not in compliance with ADA accessibility guidelines, identifies how those facilities can be made compliant, and establishes prioritization for bringing the facilities into compliance.

The Right-of-Way ADA Transition Plan was adopted by the Kenmore City Council at the June 13, 2022 meeting and can be found in the Document Box on this page.

To file a grievance related to City of Kenmore ADA policy, or to ask questions or report concerns, please visit the City of Kenmore Report-A-Concern webpage. 

To learn more about local transit, please visit the City's Transportation Options webpage.

Local transit options include:

• Sound Transit and King County Metro buses
• Community Van - a rideshare program utilizing volunteer drivers
• Community Ride - on-demand flexible-route transit service in the Juanita area, including south Kenmore
• Rideshare Carpool and Vanpool - tool for sharing rides with other commuters
• Metro ADA Paratransit - eligibility is based on your ability to use regular transit options

The Transportation Options page includes links to access each program.