Yikes
SAWHORSE
Looking for your opinion, if you would accept my proposed accessible path of exit travel below.
The setup
I have an apartment project where the corridor has one (out of 2 total) of its emergency exit doors that leads to a parking lot. The lot is not big enough to qualify as its own "safe dispersal area" so in my opinion, the path-of travel needs to continue to the public right-of-way. Due to the shape of the property and to local planning requirements, there is a pinch-point at which both cars and pedestrians would need to funnel through the same spot at a vehicle access gate in order to reach a public right of way. (In practicality, there will be almost no cars in the parking due to the nature of the residents - - almost none of them qualify to have a driver's license.)
Here's my plan:
* The vehicle gate would have battery backup and be connected to the fire alarm system.
* When the building fire alarm goes off, the vehicle gate rolls (slides on a roller) to the open position.
* The building occupant (let's say in a wheelchair) (1) exits the building, (2) crosses a detectable warning strip and enters the driveway, (3) crosses where the vehicle gate used to be (but it's now wide open), and (4) joins another sidewalk in the front yard, and (5) goes to the public street.
Does this work for you? (Keep in mind I still have one other building exit directly to the public right of way.)
Follow-up question: in #3 above, most rolling vehicle gates have a bottom metal guiderail track that is about 1" tall - - taller than an ADA threshold. Has anyone seen an acceptable alternative? I'm thinking about something that would be the functional equivalent of a drainage grate that a wheelchair can cross over.
The setup
I have an apartment project where the corridor has one (out of 2 total) of its emergency exit doors that leads to a parking lot. The lot is not big enough to qualify as its own "safe dispersal area" so in my opinion, the path-of travel needs to continue to the public right-of-way. Due to the shape of the property and to local planning requirements, there is a pinch-point at which both cars and pedestrians would need to funnel through the same spot at a vehicle access gate in order to reach a public right of way. (In practicality, there will be almost no cars in the parking due to the nature of the residents - - almost none of them qualify to have a driver's license.)
Here's my plan:
* The vehicle gate would have battery backup and be connected to the fire alarm system.
* When the building fire alarm goes off, the vehicle gate rolls (slides on a roller) to the open position.
* The building occupant (let's say in a wheelchair) (1) exits the building, (2) crosses a detectable warning strip and enters the driveway, (3) crosses where the vehicle gate used to be (but it's now wide open), and (4) joins another sidewalk in the front yard, and (5) goes to the public street.
Does this work for you? (Keep in mind I still have one other building exit directly to the public right of way.)
Follow-up question: in #3 above, most rolling vehicle gates have a bottom metal guiderail track that is about 1" tall - - taller than an ADA threshold. Has anyone seen an acceptable alternative? I'm thinking about something that would be the functional equivalent of a drainage grate that a wheelchair can cross over.
