Beach at Cape May, NJ, finally gets wheelchair access

From The Press of Atlantic City:

CAPE MAY, N.J. — Years of battling for handicapped access to the ocean paid off recently for New York Avenue resident Judy Lord as she watched a man on a wheelchair go right to the water’s edge at the Trenton Avenue Beach.

“The wheelchair went as far as you can go and they picked him up and took him into the ocean. It made my heart sing,” Lord said.

A project planned several years ago but delayed by state environmental permitting and the city’s decision to change engineering firms is finally getting done. The handicapped-access improvements are done at the Trenton Avenue Beach and almost done at the Grant Street Beach.

Of the $1 million in costs, about $700,000, is coming from a state Department of Community Affairs grant.

Lord first became aware of the problem decades ago when the family struggled to get her disabled granddaughter Jennifer Lord, who died in 1991, to the water. As Lord and her friends got older and developed their own health problems she pushed the city to take action. Lord has been fighting for the improvements for more than a decade.

“Mrs. Lord was very much involved in initiating this project, and she was frustrated by the slow progress,” said City Manager Bruce MacLeod, adding: “We think it’s a good success story. It’s one of the things we did for all the right reasons.”

It may also help the local economy. Lord swears the Trenton Avenue Beach is busier this year as disabled people and young mothers with baby carriages discover the wooden walkways called “Mr. Boardwalk” by its maker, wooden decks with tables and umbrellas, special showers, specialty wheelchairs with balloon tires, and other improvements.

Lord said she was recently on a boat on the ocean side of the Trenton Avenue Beach and realized what an instant hit it has become.

“I was amazed at how many people were there. Obviously, it’s an attraction and it’s just by word of mouth,” Lord said.

For several years now Lord has pushed the city to do the improvements, which she noted other shore towns have already done. As recently as April she got on the city about the walkways not going far enough. She wanted them practically in the water. The Mr. Boardwalk brand comes in sections about six-foot square that can be added on to lengthen a walkway or to create an instant deck for a person in a wheelchair to stop and look out over the water. The sections can be picked up and removed in the off-season.

Lord said the city listened and extended the walkways.

“They did come through and it’s wonderful. I’m just thrilled,” Lord said.

The one controversy was the vinyl railings the city installed at the beginning, which drew the ire of some members of the local Historic Preservation Commission. MacLeod said they have not been removed but all railings installed since then have been made of powder-coated aluminum. MacLeod said it will be a good test to see which type holds up better.

MacLeod said two other beaches could be done eventually. The city wants a handicapped-access beach next to the new convention center set to be completed and open by Memorial Day 2012.

The improvements do not just include wooden walkways to the water. There is also an overpass over the dunes, showers with nozzles at different heights for the handicapped, and decks with tables, umbrellas and fixed seating. There is also a wooden platform at the water’s edge so there is no congestion if several people are using the walkway. The project also includes improving access from Beach Avenue to The Promenade and buying five more wheelchairs with balloon tires that can go on sand. The city already had 12 of these wheelchairs, which are available to transport the handicapped on any beach via a request to the Cape May Beach Patrol.

The city received its first grant of $383,231 for the project back in March 2008 under the goal of meeting the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA. The grant came from the DCA’s Small Cities Program. The city at that time hoped to complete the first phase of the project by the end of 2008.

MacLeod said permits from the state’s Coastal Area Facility Review Act, or CAFRA, delayed the project. The city’s move in 2009 to change engineering firms also led to delays. The city eventually received a second grant of $353,000. The city’s match brought total funds up to almost $1 million.

Eventual plans include more improvements and possibly more handicapped parking spaces on Beach Avenue.

“This is a very good opportunity for the city to move forward and make the beach available for anybody with an ADA need,” MacLeod said.

Another side benefit is the Mr. Boardwalk can provide relief from the hot sand for anybody, not just the handicapped.

“People tend to go right for the Mr. Boardwalk,” MacLeod said.

Lord had pushed for the walkways not just for the handicapped. She said senior citizens without any specific disability can also have a harder time walking on the beaches since the city’s beach-replenishment projects brought coarser sand to the strand.