It took two years to see the job through to completion, but the highway department and the town's committee on disability recently laid down 400 square feet of stabilizing mats at the end of Beach Road in hopes of improving handicapped accessibility to the Knubble area. It's enough to safely sit three cars.

"They're fantastic," said Martin Costa, a member of the Committee on Disability who has led the committee's charge to get them installed since 2021.

"It's nice and solid," he said. "You don't sink into the sand. I can park my truck down there no problem."

Accessibility at the site has long been a problem for those with mobility issues, as the constantly shifting dune sand there makes passage difficult for those who need assistance. Though there are already stability mats running to the paths leading from the end of the road through the dunes, parking difficulties have remained an issue. Cars often got stuck at the spot.

A few years ago, Costa began working with Sean Leach of the Beach Committee to raise funds for and purchase the "GeoPave" mats, which are honeycomb-shaped and designed to sit flush with the sand.

Disabled by a back injury suffered in his youth, he can still drive however and did picked them up himself, traveling to New Jersey to purchase and get them loaded into his truck for the trip back to Westport. They sat at the highway department for some time, as Costa and others waited for the right time to put them in.

Though the conservation commission, planning board and state' National Heritage and Endangered Species Program approved the project last Spring, those approvals came too late in the year to catch a short installation allowed for by the state. The window opened again this spring and in mid-April, highway department members laid down the mats over the course of a few days.

Costa said he's overjoyed that the mats are finally in, and said he believes it will be a huge benefit to those who would otherwise think twice about heading down to the sandy area. The mats butt right up to previously installed path access mats, he said, and that's crucial for those in wheelchairs, or who use walkers, canes or other assistance.

"These folks deserve accessibility," Costa said. "These really help; it's like parking on a driveway."

Note: The spots are designated for handicap parking only.