Residential

PARKING FOR THE HANDICAPPED

1 . Parking spaces of greater width than normal

are necessary for people who are disabled
and use mechanical aids such as wheelchairs,
crutches, and walkers . For example, persons
who are chairbound must have wider aisles
in which to set up their wheelchairs.
2. A minimum of two spaces per parking lot
should be designed for use by physically re-
stricted people, or at least one space per 20
cars, whichever is greater .
3. These spaces should - be placed as close as
possible to a major entrance of a building
or function, preferably no more than 100'-0"
away.
4. Parking patterns are described in 5 and 6 be-
low (Fig . 51).
5. Parallel Parking :
Parallel parking spaces should be placed adja-
cent to a walk system so that access from
the car to the destination is over a hard sur-
face . Such spaces should be made 12'-0"
wide, 24'-0" long and should either have a
1 :6 ramp up to the walk, or should be sepa-
rated from it by bollards or some other device
if the road level is at the same elevation as
the walk. These areas should be designated
as special parking since they may otherwise
appear to be a drop-off zone .
6. 90 Degree and Angled Parking :
a. Spaces designed for use by disabled peo-
ple functioning with large mechanical aids
as described above, should be 9'-0" wide
as a minimum. In addition to the 9'-0", a
3'-6" to 4'-0" wide aisle between cars
should be provided for access alongside
the vehicle (Figs. 49 and 54). It is important
that there be plenty of room to open the
car door entirely, and in the case of a de-
pendent chairbound person, that there be
room for friends or attendants to assist him
[or her] out of the car, into his [or her]
chair, and away from the car.
b. The 9'-0" wide standard space width for
a parking stall, with no aisle between
spaces, does not drastically hinder semiam-
bulant people with minor impairments, but
an 8'-0" width, unless used exclusively for
attendant parking, is too narrow and
should be avoided.
c. A 4'-0" minimum clear aisle width should
be provided between rows of cars parked
end to end. The overhang of the automo-
bile should be taken into account so that
the island strip is wide enough to leave
a 4'-0" clear aisle when the stalls are filled.
A strip 8'-0" wide is a recommended mini-
mum for an on-grade aisle, and 10'-0" is
a recommended minimum where the aisle
is raised 6" above the parking level.
d. If the aisle between rows of cars is not
at the same grade level as the cars, then
ramps must be provided to mount the curbs.
A 1 :6 (17%) ramp is suitable for such a
short distance .
e. Economically, the installation of an on-
grade 4'-0" wide pathway is less expensive
than a raised walk . Precast car stops to
delineate the passage can be used provid-
ing that a 4'-0" wide space between the
ends of stops is maintained to allow access
to the main passageway .

Fig. 51 Parking patterns .

11 7