Parks Aim to Increase Accessibility    07/21 09:19

   CAVE CITY, Ky. (AP) -- Mammoth Cave National Park has upgraded a trail as 
part of a coordinated effort by the National Park Service to increase 
accessibility to disabled visitors.

   The Echo River Spring Trail reopened earlier this year after a $1.1 million 
transformation from a rutted gravel footpath to an 8-foot-wide concrete and 
wood path. New signs include Braille and invite visitors to experience them by 
touch so they are more meaningful to the visually or cognitively impaired.

   National Park Service accessibility chief Jeremy Buzzell says nine parks 
across the U.S. have received more than $10 million in federal funding to 
design and build accessibility projects as examples for other parks.

   A project at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska also is 
complete, and four other parks have projects in the works.


(KA)