Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed Public Rights of Way Guidelines. The guidelines are vital to insure that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in the community. I wish to express my support for the adoption of these guidelines. Of particular importance are the following proposed guidelines which I strongly support:

1. Section 1102.3. Alternate Circulation Path. The proposed guideline requires an alternate accessible circulation path whenever the existing sidewalk is blocked by construction, alteration, maintenance or other temporary conditions. This will insure that people with disabilities will not be denied access to the public sidewalks for the duration of the construction project which can last for years.

2. Section 1102.10. Stairs. The proposal to require a 2-inch visually contrasting strip along each tread nosing is very important for persons with visual impairments. Especially in low lighting conditions, unmarked stair treads are a severe danger to persons with low vision.

3. Section 1102.12. Vertical Access. The proposal to require that vertical access elevators and lifts remain unlocked is vital. This will insure that access is as readily available as it to the general public. Experience has shown that locked elevators and lifts in effect deny access to people with disabilities.  Typically, the keys required to operate locked lifts are never available when needed.

4. Section 1102.14. On-Street Parking. The proposed requirement that at least one accessible on-street parking space be provided for each block face is absolutely necessary to insure that people with disabilities are able to have equal access to parking.

5. Section 1103.4. Cross Slope. The proposal to require a maximum cross slope of 1:48 or 2.08 percent is necessary to insure that sidewalks are usable to persons with disabilities. A 3 percent cross slope is twice as hard to use as a 2 percent cross slope. Cross slopes greater than 2 percent cause permanent and debilitating damage to tendons and joints.

6. Section 1103.8. Changes in Level. Requiring that changes in level can not occur more frequently than every 30 inches is critically important and will insure that designers and builders will not use the allowed changes in level to occur every few inches in order to avoid building ramps.

7. Section 1104.3.2. Detectable Warnings. The proposed guideline to require Detectable Warnings or truncated domes at curb ramps is vitally important to people with visual impairments. Truncated domes are necessary to insure that persons with visual impairments are able to detect where the sidewalk stops and the street begins. By requiring that the truncated domes be in a line and widely spaced as described in the PROWAC Guidelines, wheelchair users will be able to wheel across the domes without difficulty.

8. Section 1105.2.2. Cross Slope. The proposal to require that crosswalks not have a cross slope greater than 1:48 or 2.08 percent is critical to insuring that people with disabilities can cross vehicular ways safely, quickly and without the physical damage that ensues when trying to traverse a cross slope greater than 2 percent.

9. Section 1105.3. Pedestrian (Universal Path User: See comment on definition below.) Signal Phase Timing. Requiring that cross walk signals allow time not only to cross the street but to ascend the opposite curb ramp is essential to the safety of persons with disabilities. However, time should be provided to allow the person to descend the curb ramp also. Otherwise, a person with a disability will have to wait at the bottom of the curb ramp in the street for the light to change in order to cross the street before the signal changes again.

10. Section 1105.5.3. Overpass and Underpass Approach. Requiring an elevator to provide accessibility where sidewalks cross overpasses and underpasses that create a rise in the sidewalk greater than five feet is essential to insure that people with disabilities will not be barred from using the sidewalks by the difficulty in ascending more than five feet. Most people with mobility disabilities do not have the stamina to ascend more than five feet at a time.

11. Section 1105.6.1. Roundabouts Separation. Requiring a continuous barrier along the street side of sidewalk where people with visual impairments will be precluded from inadvertently entering the vehicular way in "roundabouts" is essential for their safety.

12. Section 1106.2. Signals. It is essential for the safety of persons with visual impairments that this section be adopted. Requiring audible and vibrotactile indications of the WALK interval at signalized intersections provides the same opportunities and safety provided for the general public. Lack of audible and vibrotactile indicators where the general public is provided signalized intersections is discrimination and precludes people with visual impairments from the use of the public right of way.

13. Section 1108.1. Detectable Warnings. Requiring truncated domes to be aligned in a grid pattern is necessary to allow the wheels of wheelchair users to travel over them without difficulty and the space between to be slip-resistant.

14. Sections 1111.4 and 1111.6. Barricades. It is essential for the safety of persons with disabilities, especially those with visual impairments, that the proposed guideline require a solid wall or fence for barricades to separate the sidewalk from adjacent construction sites, drop-offs, openings and other hazards, as proposed.

The following guidelines should be amended in order to insure that persons with disabilities have equal protection and access in public right of way:

1. Definition: Pedestrian Access Route. The proposed guidelines state that the accessible portion of the public right of way sidewalk will be termed the "pedestrian access route." These recommended guidelines represent a profound change in the way the public environment will be built. To continue the use of the antiquated term "pedestrian" to describe the new environment that will for the first time recognize the needs of all of the public is to risk a continuation of the same mind set that has excluded people with disabilities for centuries. We have replaced our antiquated and damaging labels such as "handicapped," "crippled and "incurables" with the phrase "people with disabilities." We did so because we recognized the power of language and how people are damaged by negative, misleading and inadequate labels. Let us now replace "pedestrian access route" with the phrase "universal path" or "circulation path," (a term used frequently in the proposed guidelines), to describe the new accessible public right of way. The phrases "universal path users" or "circulation path users" should be used to identify the entire user group. We are building a whole new public environment and we need the right tools for the job.

2. Sections 1102.5.1 and 1102.5.2. Protrusion Limits and Post-Mounted Objects. The proposed guidelines allow objects with leading edges less than 27 inches in height to project into the circulation path. People with visual impairments who use canes usually do not swing their canes as high as 27 inches in order to detect a barrier and can be severely hurt as a result of these proposed guidelines. The guidelines should be amended to require that only objects with leading edges more than six inches above the ground can project into the circulation path.

3. Section 1103.7. Surface Gaps at Rail Crossings. The proposed guideline allow 2.5 to 3 inch wide gaps where a circulation route crossing commuter and train rails. Such gaps are sure to entrap the wheels of wheelchairs and lives will be lost. The U.S. Access Board should demand immediate development and use of gap closures for where circulation routes cross rails.

4. Sections 1104.2.1.3 and1104.2.2.3. Curb Ramp Landings. Curb ramp landings where a change of direction is required must be 60 by 60, as is required in the current Americans with Disabilities Act Access Guidelines (ADAAG.). See ADAAG 4.2.3. The proposed public-right-of-way guidelines allow a landing at curb ramps that is 48 inches by 48 inches, which is too small to allow people in wheelchairs to change directions as will be required at many curb ramps. The 48 inches by 48 inches for landings is particularly inadequate for the larger scooters which are used in the outdoor environment.

5. Section 1104.3.6. Counter Slopes. The slope of gutter at the bottom of a curb ramp creates a trough which can cause wheelchair mobile people to be thrown from their wheelchairs. The Public Rights of Way Access Advisory Committee proposed that the resulting combination of the gutter slope and the curb ramp slope not equal more than 11 percent. That is, if the gutter is 5 percent slope, then the curb ramp cannot be more than 6 percent slope. However, the U.S. Access Board did not follow the recommendation of the committee. I strongly urge you to adopt the 11 percent maximum sum for the addition of the gutter and curb ramp slopes in order to insure that not only wheelchair users, but users of the longer scooters will not be damaged by the trough created by the connecting gutters and curb ramps.   I have had personal experience with slopes that are steeper and would be allowed by your new guidelines.  Because of the combination of gutter slope and curb ramp slope, my manual chair stopped at the bottom of a curb ramp while I kept going.  That experience caused me to break the femur bones in both legs.

6. Section 1107.4.2. Multiple Telephones. The proposed guidelines require only one wheelchair accessible telephone and only one telephone with a TTY at a bank of telephones. This means that people with disabilities have no other telephones available when the accessible telephones are out of order. Accessible telephones are accessible to many users. Providing only one accessible telephone is inadequate and not equitable. Please amend the guidelines to require that 50 percent of telephones in a bank of telephones be accessible.

7. Section 1107.5 Public Toilet Facilities. The Public Rights of Way Access Advisory Committee recommended to the Board that toilet facilities in the outdoor environment have 48 inches of clear floor space in front of the toilet. This was recommended because the current ADAAG standards do not provide for a toilet stall large enough to accommodate people in larger wheelchairs and scooters. Particularly in the outdoor environment, more people with mobility disabilities use scooters and need to be able to use the public toilet facilities. Please follow the recommendation of the committee and amend the guidelines to require toilet stalls that are usable by persons who use larger wheelchairs and scooters. This will be particularly important for the increasing aging population. Additionally, the percentage of accessible portable toilets is unacceptable.  Providing only 5% accessible portable toilets means that persons with disabilities who use mobility devices must wait much longer for the use of the few accessible portable toilets while the general public has many more options.  A good example was an arts fair in the City of Sausalito.  There were 54 portable toilets with only 2 toilets that were accessible.  The lines were huge for all the toilets but the availability for the general public was obviously greater.  Requiring signage that states priority must be given to disabled patrons at/on the accessible portable toilets would also help remind the general public that they have many more opportunities and must allow disabled persons who have more immediate physical needs to use the accessible portable toilets first. 

Thank you for your time and consideration,