#rampupbc
BC's 30-50 year plan does not include wheelchair inclusive design----$800 million
http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/sites/imp/30-50yr_plan.html
Recent renovation-current April 2014
BC has designated as accessible paths that are extremely steep, a top parking lot of a garage meant for cars and trucks as the only wheelchair route for people with mobility problems, and refused to provide access at O'Neill Library atrium inside a heated library which is designated as the main path of travel from Maloney Hall and Commonwealth Garage (5th floor) to middle campus Gasson Hall.
Below is list of accessible or inaccessible routes, dorms, buildings, exterior walkway, campus access issues:
The "Wheelchair Negotiable Path" is neither "negotiable" or accessible to wheelchair users. The route is a trip around campus, where the direct route of travel is by use of the elevator at Maloney Hall, to the 44 stairs of the interior of O'Neill Library Atrium (heated, doors of lobby and interior open 24/7 for public). There are huge gaps in the bridge pavement where a wheelchair caster or crutch could get stuck, walkway that would block most people who are wheelchair users from using it.
BC Counsel stated that BC is on a hill, so for anyone who comes here will just have to accept the conditions. As such, they have denied any responsibility for changing slope, violating the ADA or 504 Rehab Act overseen by the US Dept of Education, Office of Civil Rights, or MAAB codes in design.
So for example, BC just built a wheelchair ramp that leads to flight of stairs in front of O'Neill Plaza. How is it possible that not one person noticed that a wheelchair user could not use this?
MAP of Chestnut Hill campus: https://www.bc.edu/content/bc/a-z/maps/s-chestnuthill.html
The words wheelchair negotiable appears to mean that a wheelchair user would be able to push a manual wheelchair up the grade of the hill. The reality is clearly different. If it were true, each part of this path from behind O'Neill Library, behind Higgins, behind Cushing, and circle back, in front of Cushing, in front of Higgins, and in front of O'Neill, to meet the grade of 1 in 20 or 5% slope. It would also require for there to be a ramp with handrails for grading of path between 5%-8 or 8.2% slope. Recent slope measurements were astounding. In the hill near to Devlin, the slope was highest at 16.7% slope. At O'Neill Plaza, wheelchair users cannot join in the main path and are segregated to the steepest slopes one one side. The slopes on the recently built brick paths were approximately
13 % slope (see slide show).
Academic classroom buildings:
1. Lyons Hall, No signage at the stairs to find the accessible door in the basement. The route of travel for wheelchair users is the furthest route away from Lyons Hall.
2. Bapst Library: The rear door is presently unlocked due to an MAAB complaint cited to BC on 1/17/14. There is an elevator at the rear of the building near College Road (only accessible by stairs off of College road). There were multiple incidents with the security guard who works overnight, blocking a student from entering due to her use of a wheelchair or scooter, and stating that he was representing the Boston College Police Department by denying her access.
3. Burns Library: There is no accessible route visible to get into Burns Library from the outside, other than by a flight of stairs. On the interior, there is a sign that states to call to enter Burns, near to a door that states it is for Employees only. How would someone know to go inside of the Bapst side to get to Burns Library and then call? The exhibits at Burns are open to the public.
4. Higgins Hall: The slope of the front ramp is excessive, making it inaccessible to wheelchair users or others unable to climb 12% slope. New construction on interior and elevator. From rear entrance, on what is called the "wheelchair negotiable path" is found a door entrance (1 step) with another interior set of stairs (approx 5) that leads to the elevator.
5. O'Neill Atrium: No access up 44 stairs. Wheelchair lift is inaccesible and does not service the entire set of stairs. The 8 kiosk computers and classrooms are not accessible when the library is closed to wheelchair users, but otherwise open to the public.
6. Vision Resource Workstation at O'Neill Library- There is no vision resources at this station. The sign is not in Braille.
7. McElroy Commons: Access in the rear entrance. Doors without designated signage.
8. Campion: No signage on the accessible route at Campion. This is the building that houses the elementary school, Campus School.
9. Stokes- Absence of accessible route, signage, or accessible entrance from the center campus. Need to enter from College Road. Exterior doors too heavy. There appears to only be one set of accessible doors to Stokes from College Road. Inaccessible garden spaces, all stairs. Stairs without handrails.
10. O'Neill Plaza: Ramp leads to stairs. Inaccessible. Less accessible after 2013 construction.
11. Quadrangle at Lyons, Gasson grounds: The new construction of July/August 2013 raised the grade and topography so that it is steeper, stairs replaced ramp, and less accessible.
12. Murray Graduate Center- No access to the offices or computers upstairs due to absence of an elevator (open to all grad students (mandatory student fees pay for it). http://www.bc.edu/offices/gsc/mgc/
13. Bourneuf House- Division of University Ministry: No access to the programs inside the house due to no ramp or elevator. https://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/mission/about/contact.html
14. Cushing School of Nursing- Front entrance hill excessively steep. Rear entrance-There is HP parking and ramp leading to door. Once inside, all stairs. Auditorium only access by flight of stairs.
BC Housing:
1. Every BC dorm building on Newton campus has access problems.
Duchesne West houses the only wheelchair accessible room on campus. There is no elevator access to the washer/dryer and could not access other rooms. Lack of bus access to dorm, located at bottom of hill where bus route stopped after 5:00pm.
2. Walsh Hall: Dorm without any wheelchair accessible rooms
3. Ignacio: Accessible route is not accessible because cannot access with card-reader- Hill with very steep slope (12-13% +) is route to dorm.
4. Rubenstein: Road leading to it is exceptionally steep- No accessible route
Wheelchair Elevator Lifts:
1. O'Neill Library stairs that is open 24/7 as main path of travel for the public. This area is heated and well lit. The existing Garaventa lift has been locked most of the 19 years since it was installed and is unsafe. Despite this, Mass Elevator Board gave it an inspection sticker.
2. Higgins Hall elevator lift: It is out of order, cable wires, rusted.. appears to not have been working for years. Despite this, BC and the Mass Elevator Board have stated that it is up to code, safe and operating.
Parking:
The 521CMR regulations and ADA require for a certain number of designated parking spaces per number of regular parking spaces. So BC's Commonwealth Garage has approximately 1000 spaces.
Of those, approximately 100 are in the open parking lot on the 7th floor which is blocked off from floors 1-6. There is a requirement for Van Accessible spaces. Floors 1-6 do not have any Van Accessible parking. Floors 1-6 also do not have any striped access aisles (as of this date March 2014). The cement barriers in the areas near to the parking inside the garage, need to be removed. They prevent cars from using the designated van accessible lift. Some new signs were placed in the last couple of weeks, including the new sign at the wheelchair accessible entrance of O'Neill library. There is no designated access aisle yet striped.
In Rec Plex parking lot, several handicap parking signs are blocked by jersey barriers. They state it is because the snow comes off of the roof and blocks the parking. There is no designated handicap parking closest to the entrance to replace lost parking spaces.
BC Escort Services:
A student needs to first get on a list to be allowed to use it. Then there is a limit to its use 2 times a day. The van can only travel to the periphery of the campus near parking. As such, the buildings that are in the middle of campus cannot be accessed by a van or car (unless a car drives down the flights of stairs, as was done at O'Neill Plaza in February 2014)
BC's 30-50 year plan does not include wheelchair inclusive design----$800 million
http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/sites/imp/30-50yr_plan.html
Recent renovation-current April 2014
BC has designated as accessible paths that are extremely steep, a top parking lot of a garage meant for cars and trucks as the only wheelchair route for people with mobility problems, and refused to provide access at O'Neill Library atrium inside a heated library which is designated as the main path of travel from Maloney Hall and Commonwealth Garage (5th floor) to middle campus Gasson Hall.
Below is list of accessible or inaccessible routes, dorms, buildings, exterior walkway, campus access issues:
The "Wheelchair Negotiable Path" is neither "negotiable" or accessible to wheelchair users. The route is a trip around campus, where the direct route of travel is by use of the elevator at Maloney Hall, to the 44 stairs of the interior of O'Neill Library Atrium (heated, doors of lobby and interior open 24/7 for public). There are huge gaps in the bridge pavement where a wheelchair caster or crutch could get stuck, walkway that would block most people who are wheelchair users from using it.
BC Counsel stated that BC is on a hill, so for anyone who comes here will just have to accept the conditions. As such, they have denied any responsibility for changing slope, violating the ADA or 504 Rehab Act overseen by the US Dept of Education, Office of Civil Rights, or MAAB codes in design.
So for example, BC just built a wheelchair ramp that leads to flight of stairs in front of O'Neill Plaza. How is it possible that not one person noticed that a wheelchair user could not use this?
MAP of Chestnut Hill campus: https://www.bc.edu/content/bc/a-z/maps/s-chestnuthill.html
The words wheelchair negotiable appears to mean that a wheelchair user would be able to push a manual wheelchair up the grade of the hill. The reality is clearly different. If it were true, each part of this path from behind O'Neill Library, behind Higgins, behind Cushing, and circle back, in front of Cushing, in front of Higgins, and in front of O'Neill, to meet the grade of 1 in 20 or 5% slope. It would also require for there to be a ramp with handrails for grading of path between 5%-8 or 8.2% slope. Recent slope measurements were astounding. In the hill near to Devlin, the slope was highest at 16.7% slope. At O'Neill Plaza, wheelchair users cannot join in the main path and are segregated to the steepest slopes one one side. The slopes on the recently built brick paths were approximately
13 % slope (see slide show).
Academic classroom buildings:
1. Lyons Hall, No signage at the stairs to find the accessible door in the basement. The route of travel for wheelchair users is the furthest route away from Lyons Hall.
2. Bapst Library: The rear door is presently unlocked due to an MAAB complaint cited to BC on 1/17/14. There is an elevator at the rear of the building near College Road (only accessible by stairs off of College road). There were multiple incidents with the security guard who works overnight, blocking a student from entering due to her use of a wheelchair or scooter, and stating that he was representing the Boston College Police Department by denying her access.
3. Burns Library: There is no accessible route visible to get into Burns Library from the outside, other than by a flight of stairs. On the interior, there is a sign that states to call to enter Burns, near to a door that states it is for Employees only. How would someone know to go inside of the Bapst side to get to Burns Library and then call? The exhibits at Burns are open to the public.
4. Higgins Hall: The slope of the front ramp is excessive, making it inaccessible to wheelchair users or others unable to climb 12% slope. New construction on interior and elevator. From rear entrance, on what is called the "wheelchair negotiable path" is found a door entrance (1 step) with another interior set of stairs (approx 5) that leads to the elevator.
5. O'Neill Atrium: No access up 44 stairs. Wheelchair lift is inaccesible and does not service the entire set of stairs. The 8 kiosk computers and classrooms are not accessible when the library is closed to wheelchair users, but otherwise open to the public.
6. Vision Resource Workstation at O'Neill Library- There is no vision resources at this station. The sign is not in Braille.
7. McElroy Commons: Access in the rear entrance. Doors without designated signage.
8. Campion: No signage on the accessible route at Campion. This is the building that houses the elementary school, Campus School.
9. Stokes- Absence of accessible route, signage, or accessible entrance from the center campus. Need to enter from College Road. Exterior doors too heavy. There appears to only be one set of accessible doors to Stokes from College Road. Inaccessible garden spaces, all stairs. Stairs without handrails.
10. O'Neill Plaza: Ramp leads to stairs. Inaccessible. Less accessible after 2013 construction.
11. Quadrangle at Lyons, Gasson grounds: The new construction of July/August 2013 raised the grade and topography so that it is steeper, stairs replaced ramp, and less accessible.
12. Murray Graduate Center- No access to the offices or computers upstairs due to absence of an elevator (open to all grad students (mandatory student fees pay for it). http://www.bc.edu/offices/gsc/mgc/
13. Bourneuf House- Division of University Ministry: No access to the programs inside the house due to no ramp or elevator. https://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/mission/about/contact.html
14. Cushing School of Nursing- Front entrance hill excessively steep. Rear entrance-There is HP parking and ramp leading to door. Once inside, all stairs. Auditorium only access by flight of stairs.
BC Housing:
1. Every BC dorm building on Newton campus has access problems.
Duchesne West houses the only wheelchair accessible room on campus. There is no elevator access to the washer/dryer and could not access other rooms. Lack of bus access to dorm, located at bottom of hill where bus route stopped after 5:00pm.
2. Walsh Hall: Dorm without any wheelchair accessible rooms
3. Ignacio: Accessible route is not accessible because cannot access with card-reader- Hill with very steep slope (12-13% +) is route to dorm.
4. Rubenstein: Road leading to it is exceptionally steep- No accessible route
Wheelchair Elevator Lifts:
1. O'Neill Library stairs that is open 24/7 as main path of travel for the public. This area is heated and well lit. The existing Garaventa lift has been locked most of the 19 years since it was installed and is unsafe. Despite this, Mass Elevator Board gave it an inspection sticker.
2. Higgins Hall elevator lift: It is out of order, cable wires, rusted.. appears to not have been working for years. Despite this, BC and the Mass Elevator Board have stated that it is up to code, safe and operating.
Parking:
The 521CMR regulations and ADA require for a certain number of designated parking spaces per number of regular parking spaces. So BC's Commonwealth Garage has approximately 1000 spaces.
Of those, approximately 100 are in the open parking lot on the 7th floor which is blocked off from floors 1-6. There is a requirement for Van Accessible spaces. Floors 1-6 do not have any Van Accessible parking. Floors 1-6 also do not have any striped access aisles (as of this date March 2014). The cement barriers in the areas near to the parking inside the garage, need to be removed. They prevent cars from using the designated van accessible lift. Some new signs were placed in the last couple of weeks, including the new sign at the wheelchair accessible entrance of O'Neill library. There is no designated access aisle yet striped.
In Rec Plex parking lot, several handicap parking signs are blocked by jersey barriers. They state it is because the snow comes off of the roof and blocks the parking. There is no designated handicap parking closest to the entrance to replace lost parking spaces.
BC Escort Services:
A student needs to first get on a list to be allowed to use it. Then there is a limit to its use 2 times a day. The van can only travel to the periphery of the campus near parking. As such, the buildings that are in the middle of campus cannot be accessed by a van or car (unless a car drives down the flights of stairs, as was done at O'Neill Plaza in February 2014)