Pact Will Open Access to Wilderness for Disabled
New York will upgrade facilities and allow motor vehicles on some roads in the Adirondack and Catskill mountains to make the wilderness more accessible to disabled people.
The changes were part of an agreement signed in Albany by the state, a federal judge and three disabled people who had sued the state in 1998 under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The state will spend $4.8 million to improve access at restrooms, boat launches, picnic areas and other facilities in state-owned forests in the Adirondacks and Catskills. It will also construct mounting platforms on horse trails.
The state also will allow the disabled to use motorized vehicles on 68 miles of restricted-access roads inside the preserves.
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