Accessible On-street Parking
Q: I've found the ADA standards for accessible parking in parking lots, but I have never found anything for street parking that has marked-out or metered on-street parking spaces. Is there a standard or recommendation for percentages and locations of accessible parking on the street?
A: While the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design do not contain technical requirements for the design of on-street accessible parking spaces, nor scoping requirements that regulate how many spaces must be accessible, Title II of the ADA clearly applies to on-street parking programs offered by state or local government entities. One of the best practice documents often applied to achieve accessibility in on-street parking design is the Public Rights of Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG), issued by the United States Access Board. While PROWAG is not yet an enforceable standard under the ADA, it is often used by local governments that want to provide access for people with disabilities using on-street parking spaces.
In terms of how many on-street parking spaces should be accessible, Section R214 of the PROWAG states that “Where on-street parking is provided on the block perimeter and the parking is marked or metered, a minimum number of parking spaces must be accessible and comply with the technical requirements for parking spaces in Chapter R3. For every 25 parking spaces on the block perimeter up to 100 spaces, one parking space must be accessible. For every additional 50 parking spaces on the block perimeter between 101 and 200 spaces, an additional parking space must be accessible. Where more than 200 parking spaces are provided on the block perimeter, 4 percent of the parking spaces must be accessible.”
The design of accessible on-street parking spaces is addressed in Section R309 of the PROWAG. The technical requirements hinge on the width of the sidewalk adjoining the on-street parking. Where the width of the adjacent sidewalk or available right-of-way exceeds 14 feet, an access aisle at least 5 feet wide must be provided at street level the full length of the parking space and it must connect to a pedestrian access route. The access aisle cannot encroach on the vehicular travel lane.