February  2009   More good questions
Below are a few questions posed by our readers...I wanted to share them with you because I thought you might find them interesting....
Shared Accessible routes

 In an existing strip shopping center which is owned by one landlord, they have two legal platted properties that share one raised patio sidewalk. 
The question was, if each "property" has an accessible ramp adjacent each other, can they remove one and use the other to access the "property"?
 
The plan shows you the conditions...

shared shopping
In this scenario, there are two ramps located side by side, both landing at the raised patio.  The patio is continuous across the two properties, so someone in a wheelchair wouldn't know that it was two different sites. 

Since there is no physical architectural barrier to impede them from accessing either side, then only one ramp is required which will be the accessible route to both properties. 
In This Issue
Shared Accessible Routes
Alterations fo an Entrance
Inspector's corner: Access Aisle location
Quick Links
 
 
Sign up to receive our E-news letter!
Alteration of an entrance
 
 One of my clients is renovating an existing school building and adding a second entrance to the building.  There were other areas inside that were being renovated also.  His question was did the new entrance have to be accessible, if the main entrance was already accessible?

In an alteration, if you read 4.1.6(1)(h) Entrances it states that if a planned alteration entails alterations to an entrance, and the building has an accessible principal or primary entrance, then the entrance being altered is not required to comply (unless it is becoming the new main entrance).  You will also be required to provide directional signage to direct them to the accessible entrance.

school entry
Inspector's corner: Access Aisle location
 
 parking access aisle

This was a correction of a violation in a parking space.  At the initial inspection, the site had a "van accessible" space, but the access aisle was only 5'-0" wide (a van accessible aisle requires 8'-0").  Their solution to correct the violation was to re-stripe and add an access aisle on the opposite side of the parking space. This would necessitate a person to  wheel across their own parked car to get to the curb ramp. 

This is only acceptable because 4.3.2(5) states that Accessible routes shall be located so that users are not required to wheel or walk behind parked vehicles (except the one they operate or in which they are a passenger) or in a traffic lanes.  See the video for more explanation.
 
Note: this rule only applies to Texas and The Texas Accessibility Standards.  The ADA does not have this requirement.
If you have any other questions or if there is anything else I can help you with, feel free to contact me any time. 
 
Sincerely,
 
Marcela Abadi Rhoads, RAS #240
Abadi Accessibility
214. 403.8714