Small Business ADA Training at MnROAD
It’s easy to overlook that MnROAD, as a research facility, is also a teaching facility. The week of June 24, MnROAD hosted a class of contractors learning about installing ADA curb ramps. MnDOT’s ADA Operations Division borrowed the facility to bring in teams of contractors from the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) to teach them about ADA compliance. The facility provided a number of benefits. 
First, the training wasn’t just in the classroom. The trainees also got to step out the door and watch the old curb removed and the new ADA curb ramp installed. “It’s critical and really important we do it here because, part of the challenge of teaching hands on is traffic control. We were so grateful MnROAD let us come here because we don’t have to worry about safety or traffic control. That’s a really important part,” said Ann Johnson, president of Professional Engineering Services.
Rich Haavisto, a transportation specialist for the operations division ADA, MnDOT, explains that this is a pilot project that’s teaching both ADA compliance and how to do concrete work. The hope is that these contractors will feel more confident in bidding for ADA projects once they see what’s involved. Doing curb ramps to MnDOT’s specifications, he says, is very specialized, detailed work.
Ted Johnson, Senior Inspector for Professional Engineering Services, echoes that. He’s done ADA work on some of the agency’s biggest projects and says they can be tricky. He points out that typically these training classes are not hands on and often run in November with projects not until the following spring. “To have one now is fantastic,” says Ted Johnson, because contractors can go out the door and start working ADA projects right away.
Of course, one of the advantages of MnROAD is the ability to make mistakes. “Here we are seeing, we’re hearing and we’re doing. And then you have the chance to make mistakes without it costing your company a lot of money. That’s awesome,” says Ted Johnson, “they can truly be part of the process.”