This photo of Phil Draper, co-founder and former director of the Center for Independent Living, gives us a clear picture of how Berkeley’s first phase of curb ramps oriented with the street. This design later shifted once California passed state-wide regulations mandating that all curb ramps descend into the cross walk. The image comes from Going Where You Wheel on Telegraph Ave, a CIL-produced booklet.
Before the city’s curb ramps, people using wheelchairs would have to use private driveways to navigate streets, or in some cases take matters into their own hands and lay down asphalt to create a somewhat manageable slope.
In Going Where You Wheel, Phil Draper recalls his experience: “Using driveways was a very dangerous proposition. But, if anyone wanted to get around Berkeley—such as Shattuck Ave, University Ave…—your only choice was to take a risk and use the driveways to get from one place to another. Since curb cuts at the time were required by state law to be incorporated under new sidewalk construction, installing them in all areas would have virtually taken a hundred years to complete.”