Bad Design Style: Case #56

On occasion for my work I will do ADA assessments and look into potential violations. So ever since I started my job, by habit I look for ADA violations or poor planning. The other day I stopped by the grocery store and noticed this while going towards the store. A drainage grate in possibly the worst place possible, at the end of an access aisle for accessible (handicapped) parking spaces. As you can see in the picture below, the grate slots are big enough for the front wheels of a manual wheelchair to fall into.

The grate takes up almost the entire width of the access aisle so a person would have to go around the drain. If another vehicle is parked in the other space then there might not be enough room.

This is a case of very poor planning. Had they just shifted the painted lines a few feet one way or the other then this wouldn’t be a problem. This problem could also be solved with using grate covers that have smaller openings where wheels cannot get caught. Circular openings that are less then 1/2″ in diameter would be ideal.