LAFAYETTE -- Bay Area Rapid Transit officials spent $2 million on a new ramp leading to the Lafayette station but didn't include provisions for wheelchairs to get from the parking lot to the access ramp.
That's not the only issue that might draw the ire of disabled-rights supporters. The south parking lot at the BART station has 117 stalls for vehicles, but not a single space has been set aside for the disabled - putting the transit agency potentially at odds with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
Federal guidelines generally call for one handicapped space for every 25 parking spots.
The new ramp allows wheelchairs and bicycles to bypass the 26 stairs leading from the south parking lot to the station entrance. The $2 million price tag covered the costs of the planning, design, landscaping, stairs and the marquee ramp that zigzags in four sections up the hillside to the station's south entrance.
But the parking lot has no curb ramps or lips that would enable wheelchairs or bicycles to easily get from the parking surface to the sidewalk, where the ramp begins. BART officials say the ramp project was designed to connect the station to a bike path leading to the Lafayette City Center. Wheelchairs could access the ramp there, but the entry point to that path is down a hill near busy Mount Diablo Boulevard.
Read more of Mark Katches' SF GATE article HERE.
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