Dear Editor,
Re: “Barriers to the disabled still exist: Hansen,” News, Oct. 23.
I found your story on Rick Hansen’s continuing efforts to remove barriers for those with disabilities quite interesting, especially his statement, “People can do certain things for accessibility and think that’s it. But, in reality, you may leave a group behind.” Like transit users.
All TransLink buses are now wheelchair accessible, something that has occurred entirely since Hansen’s Man in Motion tour. But different barriers remain. One bus stop on Bridgeport Road would be almost comical if not for the implications. It’s fully accessible; buses drop off wheelchair passengers right in front of the large office and industrial complex there. That’s great, but there’s no way for them to get off the sidewalk! In one direction the sidewalk simply dead-ends. In the other, it curls around onto No. 6 Road, past loading docks with no accessible access.
One woman got off the bus a block over on Viking Way, zig-zagged through the parking lot, then expertly timed the approaching semi-trailer trucks barreling towards the Knight Street bridge and zipped out onto the street, first to get around the railway tracks, then the sidewalkless gap between parking lots, to access her workplace.
Another place where someone, be it a city engineer or TransLink planner, should have said “Hey, wait a minute” is the intersection of No. 5 Road at Steveston Highway. A massive upgrade to accommodate the daily influx of cars and trucks (hey, nobody seems to have a problem championing THEIR interests) into the Horseshoe Way industrial area included the removal of the Ironwood Mall stop.
Now, passengers must disembark on the far side of Steveston Highway and cross the wide, busy intersection, replete with multiple turning lanes, which one blind transit user calls “a war zone.”
Trying to hear the audible Walk/Don’t Walk signals above the roar of trucks is “next to impossible,” he says.
In the last civic election, some candidates made promising statements about addressing the needs of accessible transit. Perhaps now, following Hansen’s lead, is the time to follow through.
David Magowan
Richmond
