City of Cambridge Participatory Budgeting

Committee: Community Resources

Cost: $50,000

Location: Five City Buildings Throughout Cambridge

Short Description:

Many city buildings have heavy doors without automatic openers, often making access to these buildings a challenge. Touchless automatic door openers benefit those who are elderly, pregnant, using wheelchairs or walkers, pushing strollers, concerned about germs, or anyone who has their hands full.

Long Description:

Installing automatic door openers is an efficient way of making public buildings more accessible and easier to navigate. This project would enable the Disabilities Commission, with public input, to identify five high-priority doors on public buildings and install automatic door openers, ideally using touchless/motion-activated technology (buttons are another easy option).

Automatic door openers benefit many people in Cambridge, including people who are older or use wheelchairs and other mobility devices, people carrying heavy loads or pushing strollers, or anyone who simply don’t want to touch a door handle that has been touched by countless others. This funding would enable the City to prioritize accessibility for these populations and more, by converting existing non-automatic doors to those that can be automatically opened through a simple wave or the push of a button.