Special to the Sun
Peter Axelson is founder of Beneficial Designs, a Minden-based rehabilitation and engineering design firm dedicated to universal access through research, design, and education. Along with a team of colleagues, Axelson created the Grand Canyon Greenway, a project that boasts a wheelchair-accessible rim trail at Grand Canyon National Park.
Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Peter Axelson is an adventure lover. He also uses a wheelchair, meaning taking those adventures requires some planning.
Along with a team of colleagues, the Nevada resident created the Grand Canyon Greenway, a large project that boasts a wheelchair-accessible rim trail at the national park where those breathtaking sites visitors flock to Arizona to see are visible to others like Axelson.
When visiting the park to see his completed project, Axelson said he was struck with a scene that displayed the necessity of his work.
“Peter stopped because there was a woman coming toward us in a wheelchair,” said Jeff Olson, the project leader. “And she was, I don’t know, 100 feet away or so. I was behind him at that point. And I captured that scene of Peter on the trail that he helped create, and he’s taking a picture of this woman coming toward him in a wheelchair.”
Axelson originally wanted to pursue an aerospace engineering career in the U.S. Air Force, but a rock climbing accident in the 1970s left Axelson paralyzed. Since then, Axelson has used experience living with a physical disability and his engineering training to make waves in the industry of accessibility in the outdoors.
His contributions include inventions, mobility device testing, assessing the accessibility of streets, sidewalks and trails and, of course, the Grand Canyon Greenway project.
The idea for the project was born in the 1990s when all trails the at the national park led vertically down into the canyon. There weren’t any trail options for visitors to walk along the rim. Additionally, the park was car-centric, which made it difficult to enjoy as a pedestrian — let alone as a user of wheelchairs, bicycles or strollers.
Olson, whose wife is a former park ranger of that region, assembled a team of 10 people, including Axelson.
“We proceeded to do a series of workshops with the Grand Canyon National Park and developed more than 25 miles of trails along the rim and then getting to the rim from adjacent places,” Olson said.
Axelson’s contributions to the project focused on making the trails accessible for those with disabilities, with Olson noting that he paid special attention to materials on the trail’s surface.
“The trails make it accessible for everyone and you see parents pushing strollers and people in wheelchairs and kids on bikes and just all of these experiences that could not have happened without that project and could not have happened without Peter leading all of us to see that universal access is the key to making these things great,” Olson said.
A Stanford graduate and rehabilitation engineer, Axelson founded his Minden-based company Beneficial Designs Inc. in 1981.
The company also performs testing to determine if a wheelchair or scooter is safe, durable and reliable for the end user, it says.
They designed the first mono-ski in the world with a shock absorber and a latch mechanism for chairlift loading and molded seating, he said.
“It just became apparent to me that there is an infinite need to make our country accessible for people with all kinds of disabilities to be able to participate in all aspects of life,” Axelson says.
The company’s work goes beyond inventing and testing devices.
Axelson said he was present in some early meetings with government officials to brainstorm ADA compliance in outdoor recreation areas. He had a vision of providing labels for trails that could help visitors decide how accessible it would be for their wheelchair or other mobility needs.
“I was like, we need a trail access information label that gives information about what the typical grade is and what the maximum grades are,” he said. “How much maximum grade there is and how much intermediate grade there is,” he says, explaining that he wants the same information for cross slope and tread width.”
This idea led to his work with what he calls the Universal Trail Assessment Process, which his company has used to assess over 495 miles of trails in various Nevada state parks.
Just last week the company used similar techniques to assess the sidewalks of Nellis Boulevard in east Las Vegas for Clark County, recommending a maximum grade of 5% for sidewalks to properly accommodate wheelchairs. Using a cart with wheels to simulate a wheelchair, the crew took measurements from the street to sidewalk, and surveyed crosswalk timing.
The data is helpful not only to wheelchair users, but also those with canes, walkers, strollers and the blind or visually impaired.
Axelson has a vision for the future of accessibility, saying that the parks and recreation industry has a lot of opportunities to improve accessibility features.
As for his own work, he has a goal of making airline travel more accessible for wheelchair users.
He also sees a future where accessible building features blend in seamlessly, without people noticing them.
“So it’s that concept of universal design making its way into all parts of our lives,” Axelson said.
