Nineteen years ago, the federal government passed the Americans with Disabilities Act to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities. The City of Aberdeen has been working to be barrier-free in accordance with that law by the time the act celebrates its 20th anniversary.

With 2009 more than half finished, the target date to have Aberdeen barrier free for people with disabilities is fast approaching, faster than the work needing to get done to reach that goal.

"You know, we haven't got there yet. But we've made tremendous strides here in Aberdeen," Eric Vetter said.

Vetter is a member of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities.

The city council has added $100,000 a year to the budget to put in curb ramps at intersections to ease access to sidewalks. Aberdeen has added about 200 ramps in the past three years. But the city engineer figures it'll be another five or six years before they're all done.

"We do have a ways to go but we're definitely getting there slowly," Vetter said.

Aberdeen is also adding truncated domes, which warn people who are blind or visually impaired that the sidewalk is ending. Places all over the city without a truncated dome show the city still isn't barrier-free, and it won't be by 2010. But Vetter is still happy with the progress that's being made.

"The biggest thing I think we've done is brought awareness to the whole community," Vetter said.

Still, with barriers present in buildings, on sidewalks and in other places, the committee doesn't plan to slow down yet. At this pace, Vetter figures Aberdeen will be close to its barrier-free goal in another five to ten years.

"No city is completely 100 percent accessible. But we're going to do what we can to make Aberdeen as accessible as possible," Vetter said.

Vetter says improving the condition of sidewalks is a big need in Aberdeen, but that's a landowner's responsibility and it can get expensive. He's hoping the city can find a way in the future to help cover the cost.