Benches Would Help Access to BMS

The Staff|October 29, 2015

Ella Berg

Living with a physical handicap is tough.

Stairs are difficult, sometimes walking from point A to B takes planning and help certain activities are beyond participation. Society needs to do all it can to help.

This brings up the handicap parking at BMS. There are two areas of handicap parking areas at the school. One is where the buses arrive and depart and one is at the end of the sidewalk along the loop where the parents drop off and pick up their kids. This last area is a problem. Because it stops those with a disability from having to cross what becomes a busy dangerous road in the morning and afternoon, it is far away from the school, 210 feet away.

In the Handicapped Parking Laws for the State of Connecticut, it says “State law uses the federal criteria for defining limitation in ability to walk (23 CFR 1235 .2). Under these criteria, someone is limited in his or her ability to walk if a physician determines that he or she cannot walk 200 feet without resting.”
We have ramps and we have handicap elevators. We do an admirable job of providing access in the building. However, we need a bench in between the handicap spots and the school front doors for users of those spots to rest.

The bench is needed because the people who have handicapped permits need a resting place every 200 feet.

It is important for the schools to set the tone of pro handicap facilities and help parents and grandparents who need help getting to our front doors.