MONROE - The parking sign may say "van accessible," but it's not.
Several locations around Monroe have handicapped parking, some even have spots marked as "van accessible."
But where the spaces are placed and how they are marked off on the street do not make sense, said Wendy Erb, who has been confined to a wheelchair for 18 years.
Erb, a trained lawyer turned homemaker, recently joined Monroe Main Street to emphasize handicapped parking accessibility issues.
The "van accessible" parking space required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 provides an 8-foot-wide space with an access aisle of the same size.
The 16 feet of space is just wide enough to maneuver and exit from a side-mounted lift, according to The ADA Standards for Accessible Design in Appendix A of the Title III Regulations, issued by the Department of Justice.
The typical 5-foot access aisle for cars "does not permit lifts or ramps to be deployed and still leave room for a person using a wheelchair or other mobility aid to exit the lift platform or ramp" the appendix reads.
With the use of more vans with side-mounted lifts and ramps, such as the one Erb uses, revisions in specifications for parking spaces and adjacent access aisles are being recommended.
In national tests conducted with actual lift/van/wheelchair combinations, under a Board-sponsored Accessible Parking and Loading Zones Project, researchers found that a space and aisle totaling almost 204 inches (17 feet) wide was needed to deploy a lift and exit conveniently.
At Recreation Park, where Erb plays tennis, handicapped parking is located at the end on the west side of lot. It allows for a ramp and access out of van, but requires wheelchairs to travel around or between parked cars, where a person in a wheelchair cannot see or be seen.
Furthermore, a sidewalk to the court ends abruptly.
Erb must travel through an uneven grassy area around the courts and enter through the east side.
At the playground at the park, the parking spot marked "van accessible" is next to a regular parking spot, with no access aisle.
"It's not accessible," Erb said. "If I get parked in, I have to go find someone to back my van out, so I can get in."
If Erb parks somewhere else to assure herself of getting back into her van, any vehicle parked next to the walkway blocks her route. The route connecting to the access aisle is to be a minimum of 3 feet wide.
Solutions for accommodating the handicapped are "real easy, low-cost fixes" Erb said.
Some organizations are making a concerted effort.
Erb said Monroe Arts Center, with its many flights of stairs, is putting elevators in its building, as well as more and different parking.
"They know that they are missing out (on serving the handicapped) and are working on it," Erb said.
She has high hopes the Monroe Main Street Master plan will alleviate the downtown parking.
An 8-foot access aisle placed between two parking spaces creates two "van accessible" spaces. Or, if the access aisle is at the end of a row (an area often unused), it's possible to provide the wide access aisle without additional space.
Brennan's County Farm Market put up a handicapped sign at one end of its parking spots, but it doesn't solve the problem for Erb.
End spaces, usually marked off by yellow diagonal lines, are often used by the unwitting looking to save a few steps.
In the West Court Mall parking lot, the paint is gone. On the east end, there are no handicapped spots, and on the west end, there is one faded sign.
Not willing to risk getting blocked in, Erb has, at least once, left the shopping center where she and her children had planned to eat dinner.
One handicapped space is required for every 25 spaces in a parking lot, and one in every eight handicapped spot is to be van accessible.
Monroe Clinic and Hospital does have van accessible spots, but also has valet service, which helps because of hilly terrain.
Erb parks in the lower level next to the curb where she can get her ramp out on to the sidewalk.
Wisconsin recently adopted the 2003 International Building Code (ICC).
The guidelines are to be applied during the design, construction and alteration of buildings and facilities to the extent required by regulations issued by federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, under the ADA.
"If everything stays exactly the way it is, they do not have to update," city building inspector Dave Powers said. "But any change of use triggers the updated code."
City Hall, for example, was built in the mid-1960s, before the ADA went onto effect. Handicapped parking has been added behind the building.
For access to the Parks and Recreation Department, one handicapped parking space exists on 18th Avenue, and a ramp from the street accesses the room on the lower floor. However, the parking space is hardly wide enough to accommodate a car, let alone a van.
Historic buildings are also allowed to deviate from codes if renovations will ruin the historic value.
Powers said the code provides for only the minimum requirements - and then only if the accessibility measures are readily achievable.
Powers would like to see the code triggered at the time of a sale, when new owners are most likely to upgrade property.
Several locations around Monroe have handicapped parking, some even have spots marked as "van accessible."
But where the spaces are placed and how they are marked off on the street do not make sense, said Wendy Erb, who has been confined to a wheelchair for 18 years.
Erb, a trained lawyer turned homemaker, recently joined Monroe Main Street to emphasize handicapped parking accessibility issues.
The "van accessible" parking space required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 provides an 8-foot-wide space with an access aisle of the same size.
The 16 feet of space is just wide enough to maneuver and exit from a side-mounted lift, according to The ADA Standards for Accessible Design in Appendix A of the Title III Regulations, issued by the Department of Justice.
The typical 5-foot access aisle for cars "does not permit lifts or ramps to be deployed and still leave room for a person using a wheelchair or other mobility aid to exit the lift platform or ramp" the appendix reads.
With the use of more vans with side-mounted lifts and ramps, such as the one Erb uses, revisions in specifications for parking spaces and adjacent access aisles are being recommended.
In national tests conducted with actual lift/van/wheelchair combinations, under a Board-sponsored Accessible Parking and Loading Zones Project, researchers found that a space and aisle totaling almost 204 inches (17 feet) wide was needed to deploy a lift and exit conveniently.
At Recreation Park, where Erb plays tennis, handicapped parking is located at the end on the west side of lot. It allows for a ramp and access out of van, but requires wheelchairs to travel around or between parked cars, where a person in a wheelchair cannot see or be seen.
Furthermore, a sidewalk to the court ends abruptly.
Erb must travel through an uneven grassy area around the courts and enter through the east side.
At the playground at the park, the parking spot marked "van accessible" is next to a regular parking spot, with no access aisle.
"It's not accessible," Erb said. "If I get parked in, I have to go find someone to back my van out, so I can get in."
If Erb parks somewhere else to assure herself of getting back into her van, any vehicle parked next to the walkway blocks her route. The route connecting to the access aisle is to be a minimum of 3 feet wide.
Solutions for accommodating the handicapped are "real easy, low-cost fixes" Erb said.
Some organizations are making a concerted effort.
Erb said Monroe Arts Center, with its many flights of stairs, is putting elevators in its building, as well as more and different parking.
"They know that they are missing out (on serving the handicapped) and are working on it," Erb said.
She has high hopes the Monroe Main Street Master plan will alleviate the downtown parking.
An 8-foot access aisle placed between two parking spaces creates two "van accessible" spaces. Or, if the access aisle is at the end of a row (an area often unused), it's possible to provide the wide access aisle without additional space.
Brennan's County Farm Market put up a handicapped sign at one end of its parking spots, but it doesn't solve the problem for Erb.
End spaces, usually marked off by yellow diagonal lines, are often used by the unwitting looking to save a few steps.
In the West Court Mall parking lot, the paint is gone. On the east end, there are no handicapped spots, and on the west end, there is one faded sign.
Not willing to risk getting blocked in, Erb has, at least once, left the shopping center where she and her children had planned to eat dinner.
One handicapped space is required for every 25 spaces in a parking lot, and one in every eight handicapped spot is to be van accessible.
Monroe Clinic and Hospital does have van accessible spots, but also has valet service, which helps because of hilly terrain.
Erb parks in the lower level next to the curb where she can get her ramp out on to the sidewalk.
Wisconsin recently adopted the 2003 International Building Code (ICC).
The guidelines are to be applied during the design, construction and alteration of buildings and facilities to the extent required by regulations issued by federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, under the ADA.
"If everything stays exactly the way it is, they do not have to update," city building inspector Dave Powers said. "But any change of use triggers the updated code."
City Hall, for example, was built in the mid-1960s, before the ADA went onto effect. Handicapped parking has been added behind the building.
For access to the Parks and Recreation Department, one handicapped parking space exists on 18th Avenue, and a ramp from the street accesses the room on the lower floor. However, the parking space is hardly wide enough to accommodate a car, let alone a van.
Historic buildings are also allowed to deviate from codes if renovations will ruin the historic value.
Powers said the code provides for only the minimum requirements - and then only if the accessibility measures are readily achievable.
Powers would like to see the code triggered at the time of a sale, when new owners are most likely to upgrade property.