By CHERYL ROMANO/Lincoln Chronicle
WALDPORT — It’s a beautiful day on the Oregon coast so let’s go to the beach!
That’s an easy plan for many — but not if you’re in a wheelchair, using a walker or cane, or just don’t feel secure walking on soft, shifting sand.
That’s changed, however, in the Bayshore community just north of the Alsea Bay Bridge. There, a new portable mats project has made a shore visit practical for all.
Thanks to the Bayshore Beach Club and the Oregon Coast Visitors Association, people with mobility issues can now wheel or walk safely right down to the shore on a series of roll-out mats called Mobi-Mats.
Seven connectable mats, each five feet wide and 50 feet long, extend from Oceania Drive near a new parking lot at the corner of Cunard Street, down to the high-water mark of the sea.
“It’s beautiful here. Everyone should be able to enjoy it,” says Kenn Apel, chair of Bayshore’s beach access committee and the prime mover of the campaign. Bayshore is a residential community managed by volunteer members.
Apel launched the project almost two years ago, he said, because “We have some club members who had never been to the beach” due to mobility issues. “I wanted everyone to be able to get out on the beach and see it firsthand.”
The idea grew from a suggestion by fellow committee member Dave Smith, who had seen a notice from visitors association offering grants for accessibility projects.
Costs for mats, parking
Apel wrote the grant and secured $23,629 from the OCVA to pay for the mats, including $4,500 to prepare the path. Before the mats can be rolled out and pounded into place, the ground underneath must be leveled and cleared. Further, the Bayshore path needed to be widened and the slope minimized to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
One caveat of the grant was that a paved public parking lot — including one handicapped-only slot — had to be provided. While there was already a parking area by the access area, it was simply dirt.
The cost of paving and striping the new, eight-space lot along with permits required from Lincoln County and the state totaled $19,000. All the parking lot funds were donated by 34 Bayshore residents.
“Anyone can use the path; it’s on county and state property” about 1½ miles north of the Bayshore clubhouse, said Apel. In Oregon, there are no private beaches. The state’s entire 362-mile shoreline is publicly owned under the 1967 Beach Bill.
Mobi-Mats look like wood but are made of recycled polyester-type bottles that are resistant to rot, termites and ultraviolet light. Each one weighs 65 pounds. They’re secured in place with a system of stainless steel eyelets and spikes. Once the season is over — in Bayshore’s case at the end of September — the sand-colored mats will be cleaned, rolled and stored for the winter.
“Now I can get to the beach!”
Bayshore now has a “Mobi-Mat Team” of 11 members who meet weekly to clean and maintain the mats by blowing off sand and debris.
Reaction to the new beach access feature has been overwhelmingly strong: posts on one Facebook page alone drew 1,000 “Likes.”
“Everybody loves the idea,” reports Apel. People who use wheelchairs, canes, walkers, strollers and bicycles exult, “Now I can get to the beach!”
A retired professor from the University of South Carolina, Apel worked in speech language pathology, with an emphasis on reading and writing.
“I’ve spent my life working with people with disabilities,” he said. “I believe everyone has the right to experience life like everyone else.”
Apel is also editor of Bayshore’s monthly newsletter “The Breeze”, and in the latest issue he thanks all the members and donors who contributed time, effort and money to make the Mobi-Mats a reality.
“Because of you,” he wrote, “there will be individuals seeing the ocean directly themselves for the very first time. What a remarkable accomplishment that is!”
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For all locations with this special beach access, visit the OCVA page “Travelability on the Oregon Coast.”
- Cheryl Romano is a Yachats freelance reporter who contributes regularly to Lincoln Chronicle. She can be reached at Wordsell@gmail.com
Great job and thanks to all of the Bayshore volunteers for making this happen!
This is such a great project and response to a need. Love that the parking lot paving was donated by local residents.