An agreement was reached this week between the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Disability Rights Advocates to improve accessibility to federally managed park lands. The Golden Gate National Recreation Area will address any barriers and improve facilities over the next four years in restrooms, visitor centers, campgrounds and trails throughout places like Alcatraz, Fort Mason, the Marin Headlands, the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park and Muir Woods.
The agreement that was reached binds the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to these efforts and gives guidelines and timetables for the improvements, with the first plans for improvements to be made public by June 2009 so that they can be opened to public debate, and then outlines further efforts throughout the parks projected until the middle of 2012. The efforts are to address conditions which currently hinder the accessibility of disabled people to the facilities, such as those in wheelchairs who might find some bathroom accessibility to be limited, buildings without ramp access, and sidewalk curbs too high. An effort will also be made to design some flat trail access to natural spaces in places such as the Marin Headlands where the natural topography would otherwise make wheelchair access extremely limited.
While there are limits as to the number and magnitude of the efforts due to budgetary considerations, the plan will address the barriers of greatest concern first, and continue improvements over the course of the next four years, with an eye toward making it a priority that everyone can access the 75,000 acres of park lands from San Mateo to the Marin Headlands within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
