Is Sandy Hook ADA Compatible?
After more than two months of waiting, the National Park Service has now reported it will be at least another month before ADA signage and some improvements can be made at Sandy Hook beaches for persons who have mobility problems.
It will take a longer, undetermined length of time to provide a mobility mat for access to the beach for disabled persons as well as signage along the road indicating where ADA sites are available at the national recreation area.
Surprisingly, in an e-mail to Congressman Frank Pallone, a park official also conceded the one area that appears to be ADA accessible really is not, so signs cannot be posted there.
Queries to the national park as to where a person in a wheelchair could actually see the Atlantic Ocean along the seven mile strip were unanswered until Congressman Pallone began to seek further information to help a handicapped constituent.
Questions arose when a local resident with need for a wheelchair learned she could not simply sit in a car on Sandy Hook and view the ocean, but had to access some area with a wheelchair in order to enjoy the view.
Because of the sea wall and the breadth of Sandy Hook past the end of the sea wall, there are no areas where it is possible to see the ocean while traveling in a vehicle along Sandy Hook. Several places have views of the Shrewsbury River and Sandy Hook Bay, but parking for these sites are also a distance away and across the trafficked roadway.
One site was found at Area B parking, where there is a well constructed deck on top of the seawall. The deck affords spectacular views of the ocean to the horizon as well as New York Harbor and Manhattan.
The ramp to that deck is dirt and stone at the base, and with a slightly steep grade, but accessible by wheelchair with a chair driver pushing the chair up the ramp. The area is clearly marked with several handicapped only signs at the base of the ramp. But there are no signs saying the ramp is there as well.
There can’t be, a spokesman for Sandy Hook said. That’s because the path that provides access to that deck does not meet accessibity standards for grade or material, although it was built by the National Park service.
To make it correct, the park service would have to install several steps and it would result in a more involved project. Because of the work that type of new project entails, it could possibly be finished in time for the 2024 season. However, the newly completed access would have to be evaluated and undergo an ADA review, something the current ramp apparently did not do, so that is not a firm commitment..
There are mobility mat accesses to the beach at Areas D, E and G, however, information has not be available. Beginning some time next month, information concerning obtaining beach wheel chairs will be added at the plaza.
ADA directional signage will also be provided along the road and at the entrances to Areas D, E, G and within the parking areas. Signage is currently being designed in keeping with Gateway’s sign standards, and the target date for completion and installation has been set at mid-August.
Looking to long term improvements to help persons in wheelchairs, an accessible mobility mat will need to be purchased to provide access to the beach at Area C. and information concerning obtaining beach wheel chairs will be added at the plaza area. ADA directional signage will also be provided along the road and at the entrances to Area C, though no date for completion has been set for any of this work.
