The ADA-compliant (Americans with Disabilities Act) dune walkover ramp at Kamaole III has been built by South Maui Volunteers with volunteer labor and paid for with donations from individuals and condominium resorts, two smaller grants, and a $25,000 grant from the Hawai’i Tourism Authority’s Natural Resources Program administered by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA).
The project was driven by the requirement for an ADA ramp at Kamaole III. The law requires that if other ramps and trail improvements are made at a park, then accommodations also have to be provided for ADA accessibility. The Parks Department has been a gracious and accommodating host for the project and permits for the structure were issued by the Planning Department.
The purpose for any dune walkover is to minimize erosion by offering an elevated walkway over a dune. The upper half of this ramp (from the floor up) is built to the specifications for ramps by the ADA and the lower half (from the floor down) is built to ‘best practices’ recommendations from Sea Grant and the Planning Department for dune protection. To date, over 150 skilled and dedicated volunteers have worked over 750 hours on this project.
Beneficiaries include those in wheelchairs or using walkers, parents with strollers, people bringing wagons to the beach, seniors and others needing a bit more time and support, small children walking on their own, and our disabled veterans.
For more information, please visit www.SouthMauiVolunteers.com
The ramp is 171 feet long and 5 feet wide. The top deck is aprox. 120 inches above the height of the beach below. ADA requires that the ramp slope at no more than 1 inch/ foot and that there be a 5 foot landing for resting every 30 feet. There is also a 215 foot concrete sidewalk extension that has been added to provide solid ADA access from the parking lot to the ramp.
What a shame. I still can?t believe that the County of Maui has allowed this MEGA ramp to be built on this small beach/dune area of Kamaole 3. Other beaches/parks in Hawaii have resolved the erosion issue and handicapped access to beaches with much less invasive and destructive means, such as roll out mats, sand replacement, etc. I hope this dune area where both ramps have been built will be replanted and restored as the dune area now looks unhealthy and trashed. Kihei, Maui deserve better.