Vehicle Bumper Overhang affecting sidewalk ADA width

[ClemsonVet]

I have been challenged to determine how a vehicle overhang affects ADA compliance in front of a parking stall. ADA standards 502.7 mentions "relationships to accessible routes" and says to use wheel stops as an effective way to prevent vehicle overhangs from reducing the clear width of accessible routes. What is the standard vehicle overhand length?

Not sure if you need the details but the stalls are 9' wide by 19' long to face of curb(includes the gutter). The sidewalks are 5' in width, right behind the curb.

Please put your response on your office letterhead, signed and sealed. Invoice to marketing. thanks

Mark

 

[fel3]

A quick on-line search confirmed what I already knew, which is that there is no standard vehicle overhang length. Each vehicle is different. However, state and local agencies have standard parking space designs that show where to place wheel stops. These designs should prevent the vehicles with the longest overhangs from impinging (or impinging too much) on the sidewalk. Since the ADA path of travel width for sidewalks is 36", a 5-foot-wide sidewalk has 24" it could give up to vehicle overhangs without creating a violation.

"Please put your response on your office letterhead, signed and sealed. Invoice to marketing. thanks" Seriously?

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"Is it the only lesson of history that mankind is unteachable?"
--Winston S. Churchill

 

[Pinwards]

We typically assume 2' overhang.
#

 

[3DDave]

Instead of parking blocks they should use parking bollards so there is no overhang. Too often I've seen sidewalks blocked by bro trucks backed in with extended towing attachments at shin and knee-cap height.

 

[LuK13]

My guess is your worst case scenario is a truck backed in.

I have a 2015ish F150 super cab (back seats with suicide doors) and the 6.5ft bed. Front overhang is ~2ft and rear overhang is ~4ft. I try to find a space at the perimeter of the lot and back in so I can hang the tailgate over some grass instead of sticking into the aisle. Have had a few times I have had to pass on a spot or not back in as far because I would have hit a tree or light post that was too close.

Also with the ride height of the truck I can get my wheels right up to the curb or wheel stops. One time I forgot I was in the minivan and scraped the hell out of the underside on a wheel stop trying to pull too far in...

If there is a sidewalk and no wheel stop I can render most of the sidewalk useless by backing my rear wheels up to the curb and hanging the tailgate over the sidewalk.

But there is also always going to be someone with a bigger vehicle. How big do you need to plan for? 80th percentile? 90th percentile? Bro dozer edge cases? I would start with the local standard parking space that fel3 mentioned and see how they work with a half ton truck (150/1500 models) since they are everywhere. Is there something about this location that would drawn an above average amount of larger trucks (250/2500+ models). Then maybe have a conversation with the client and/or AHJ since this could start increasing the lot size to maintain the minimum number of spots and drive costs.

 

[dauwerda]

The couple of parking lot requirements I have read all allowed spots to be 2ft shorter if the front edge was along a planter or green space that could tolerate a vehicle hanging over the curb (as opposed to being at the face of a building or up against another parking spot). With that, while I don't think there really is a standard, I would say 2ft is the assumption that is often used.

 

[BrianPetersen]

An extended-length Ford Transit or Mercedes Sprinter may be a near-worst-case for rear overhang, and they're too long to fit in a normal spot. One end or the other (or some of both) is going to be past the end. Blocking a travel lane is not good, either.

 

[ClemsonVet]

thank you all