Lujan Grisham Outlines Efforts to Improve Disability Access to Social Security Office

Statement

Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham announced today that city and federal officials are making progress to improve parking, including new metered parking and a drop-off zone for people with disabilities, at the Social Security Administration building in Downtown Albuquerque.

Rep. Lujan Grisham had asked Social Security Commissioner Carolyn W. Colvin for assistance to make the building, which was designed to serve as a call center, more accessible to the public. Officials from the Social Security Administration are working with the federal General Services Administration to design a drop-off zone that will give people, particularly clients with disabilities, easier access to the building.

The federal officials are also working with city Planning Department officials who have agreed to install parking meters around the Social Security building, located between 5th and 6th streets and Lead and Coal avenues. The metered parking will give clients more parking options closer to the entrance of the building. Individuals with a handicapped placard will be able to park for free at the metered spaces.

"I appreciate the cooperation between federal and city agencies to get together and do the right thing on behalf of the thousands of people who need services from the Social Security office," Rep. Lujan Grisham said. "I wish these details would have been considered and finalized before moving to the Downtown location. I will continue to push for federal legislation that requires federal agencies to analyze the impact on the public before changing locations."

The Social Security Administration moved its Albuquerque office in August from a building in Midtown to the Downtown facility that previously served as a teleservice center for SSA. Rep. Lujan Grisham sent a letter and spoke on the phone with Commissioner Colvin, who agreed to pursue a secure drop-off zone for the disabled or wheel-chair bound clients. She also spoke with regional and local officials about parking and other concerns.

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