Town may consider improving beach accessibility using Community Preservation Act funds

Jan 26, 2022

Wareham’s beaches may soon see improved accessibility with the help of Community Preservation Act funds.

“I’m looking to propose a request to purchase Mobi Mats,” Harbormaster Garry Buckminster explained during the Community Preservation Committee meeting on Jan. 26. “Mobi Mats, if you’re not familiar, a lot of the beaches in Provincetown or beach towns purchase durable mats which roll over the beaches so people have access to them with wheelchairs, walkers, strollers — all sorts of things.” 

He said that the mats help prevent people from having to strain to access and enjoy the town’s beaches.

“The product is made of recycled bottles, which is nice,” he said. The mats are also Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, as they provide water access with a non-skid surface, he said. 

Buckminster proposed purchasing mats that would be installed at Onset Beach, Swifts Neck Beach and Little Harbor Beach. 

Members of the committee asked Buckminster about how long the mats would last — at least around 10 years at the town’s high-traffic beaches — and about whether they could be quickly removed ahead of bad weather, which they can. Overall, committee members seemed largely supportive of Buckminster’s request for CPA funds. 

The funds would cover the mats themselves and three machines to roll up and store the mats.

Buckminster noted that the mats — in conjunction with other accessibility features such as beach wheelchairs — were another early step “toward starting to upgrade our beach access.”

“I think we’ve got some serious investment of public access coming down the road for all of our public beaches,” he said, noting that the town’s beaches are a “focal point of the community.”

The committee will vote on whether to recommend the funding request at a future meeting. Voters will be asked to consider the request at Town Meeting. 

In total, Buckminster requested more than $60,000 in CPA funding for the mobility mats. If possible, he said he hopes to have the mats by late summer of this year — or by spring of 2023 at the latest.