Additional Spaces Provide Access To Main Street For Handicapped Residents

FALMOUTH- Three parking spaces among hundreds on and near Main Street may not seem like a big deal. But these three new handicapped spaces mean a world of difference for the people who need them most.
The spaces are in front of Bean and Cod, in front of the Black Dog General Store, and on the other side of the street, in front of Falmouth Jewelry Shop.
W. Jay Kingwill, chairman of the Falmouth Commission on Disabilities, said that people have long been frustrated with the lack of handicapped parking on Main Street. The addition of the three spots gives people a chance to do errands and shopping on Main Street that they might not have been able to do before.
Only two handicapped spots have previously been available in the area, and those are at Town Hall Square. Mr. Kingwill said those spots were almost always taken, especially during the summer. For people who are unable to walk, or have a hard time traveling great distances, the new spots could make all the difference, he said.
Mr. Kingwill said because of a medical condition it is difficult for him to walk more than 100 feet at a time. The new parking arrangements allow him to go, for example, to get his wife’s watch fixed at the Falmouth Jewelry Shop or to Ben and Bill’s Chocolate Emporium.
The spot in front of Bean and Cod will allow Mr. Kingwill to go to Eastman’s Hardware store when he needs to, and also to the post office. Mr. Kingwill regretted the commission could not gain a spot right in front of the post office, but the sidewalk there is not wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair car. The spot in front of Bean and Cod is as close as the commission could get.
Mr. Kingwill praised the Falmouth Department of Public Works for creating the spots only three days after the selectmen approved his commission’s choice of parking spots.
Christina C. Egloff of Woods Hole called the addition of more handicapped parking “life-changing.” The new spots will allow her to be more independent. Previously she would have to rely on someone else to drive her into town and drop her off right in front of her destination. Now she can plan to get a haircut at Headlines or shop at Maxwell’s and Co. without having to worry about where she is going to park. The absence of parking on Main Street has often kept her from doing the things that she needed to do.
Still, some people would like more handicapped spaces. D. Jannett and Kenneth J. Fullerton of Quissett, enjoyed lunch outside at Laureen’s restaurant on Monday afternoon. Mr. Fullerton uses a walker and in the past Ms. Fullerton has let him out on the side of the road and then tried to find a parking spot. On Monday, Ms. Fullerton’s BMW was parked illegally in the safety zone preceding the sidewalk. She said the new spots are a big improvement, but the parking across the street in Town Hall Square is just too far for her husband to walk.
Dawn K. Copeland of North Falmouth, a waitress at Laureen’s, said she would welcome a handicapped spot right in front of the restaurant.
Across the street, parked in one of the Town Hall Square handicapped spots, Alice E. Ewing, a visitor from Connecticut, sat in her car with the door open reading a book. Her friends were shopping, she said, and it was just easier to sit and wait for them in the car. She is visiting for a week, staying in East Falmouth, and she says the amount of handicapped parking in Falmouth is very helpful.
Stephen H. Vannerson, owner of Bean and Cod, said that nobody notified him that the parking spot would be converted to handicapped, but he has not noticed a difference in business either way.  
George R. Spivey, Falmouth Equity/Affirmative Action Officer for the town and schools who works with the commission on disabilities, said, in an e-mail, that the new parking spots are not the only new improvements in town for people with disabilities. There’s also “the new walkway at Guv Fuller Field [at the Gus Canty Community Center], the viewing platform for people with disabilities also at Fuller, 10 new handicap parking spaces at Fuller, Depot Avenue [bike path parking lot] handicap parking and access to the Shining Sea Bikeway, and the ramp and automated doors at the renovated Falmouth Public Library on Main Street.”
Mr. Spivey said his work with the commission on disabilities has been rewarding becuse of the commitment of its members. But even more rewarding, he said, is the collaboration of the committee with town departments, like the DPW, Falmouth Police Department, Falmouth Engineering Department, Falmouth Planning Department, and Falmouth Traffic Management Commission, which have made the improvements for the disabled happen.