Handicap Accessibility– Where feasible, every attempt shall be made to provide a form of handicap accessibility to the public access dock. Handicap accessibility should be considered when designing the texture, width, and slope of pedestrian access. Fishing docks should have wheel chair accessable railings.  Benches for resting should be provided.  Gangways and bridges should be designed in accordance to ADA specifications for marinas and floating docks.  Docks should be equipped with Wheelchair curbing (bull rails) around the perimeter.

Gangways – Should be ADA designs and include childproof barriers.  Marine aluminum construction is superior to steel for the benefits of attractiveness, lighter weight and low maintenance for marine applications.  Bridge liveloads should be in accordance to local and national codes.  Bridge slopes should comply with ADA specifications for marinas and floating docks. 

Sustainable Design– The public access docks should be designed and constructed of quality, sustainable materials. The design and construction materials selected should require minimal maintenance to provide successful long-term’ public access.  Designs should be heavy duty and durable.

Overall User Friendliness– Public waterfront access designs should include the general dimensional requirements for the proposed or desired use. For example, a fishing dock should include a railing height to allow for casting by a variety of physical abilities and a platform area that provides ample space for several fishermen to utilize.  Dock structures should be a minimum of 8 feet in width. Flotation liveloads should be a minimum of 30 psf.

Signage and Entries– Uniform and attractive informational/ location signs should be included within each public waterfront access project. Signage should properly direct visitors to the site and parking areas. 

Parking– Signed and delineated public parking spaces. The number of actual spaces should be in scale with the size of the project and in relatively close proximity to the public access dock.  Consider providing extra parking spaces for Handicap Parking.