Posted: | December 13, 2024 01:22 PM |
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From: | Representative Brian Munroe |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Increasing the Width of Access Aisles for Accessible Parking Spaces |
Currently, the vast majority of accessible parking spaces for people with disabilities share a 60-inch-wide access aisle. An access aisle is the reserved area beside the accessible parking space and is meant to allow those with mobility devices to have room to open their car doors and comfortably exit and enter their vehicles. However, the size of access aisles is inadequate. If another individual parks their vehicle too close to or on the access aisle, this impedes the ability of a person with a mobility device to freely access their car and the businesses nearby. I am introducing a bill to address this issue by increasing the width of access aisles to 96 inches, a current optional standard for van accessible spaces. New parking lots would be required to have access aisles of 96 inches. For existing parking lots, when a parking lot is being relined or undergoes similar maintenance, then the access aisles would need to be expanded to 96 inches. People with disabilities should have equal access to their communities and the businesses around them. For people who use mobility devices, access aisles are key to providing freedom of movement. Please join me in improving access to our communities for people who use mobility devices. This change will help many Pennsylvanians and will continue to make our communities more accessible. |
Introduced as HB307