By John Woodhouse
I have been asked to write about the experience of a person in a wheelchair navigating in and around Lowertown. Well, to me Lowertown is divided into two sections: west of King Edward we have the ByWard Market; east of King Edward we have a largely residential area.
I have asked many disabled persons their view of the Market area. Their responses were:
- Inaccessible;
- Don’t feel welcomed; and,
- Feel like a second-class citizen.
Shops, stores and bars are not welcoming. Some stores are so stuffed with merchandise that even if you can get in you can’t move around, forcing you to do your transaction on the sidewalk. Not ideal.
The bars have seating reserved for the handicapped, but it is usually at the back of the bar away from other patrons. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
Let’s turn our attention to the new William Street Pedestrian Plaza where once again the disabled feel left out. There are nice chairs, but I bring my own. The picnic tables are too low and there is no room for someone in a wheelchair to get near them, as the seating is fixed. When the wooden gates are closed the plaza looks like another construction site. When they are open it looks like a pedestrian mall. But it seems that the movable wooden fencing is for the convenience of the vendors to bring their wares in and out rather than enhance access.
have been well-used by people over the summer. However, people in
wheelchairs cannot access the table.
I do regular walk audits with the Council on Aging, Ecology Ottawa, Healthy Transportation Coalition and others. Walk audits are eye-opening and enjoyable. We do them to assess the walkability of our neighbourhoods with an eye to enhancing active transportation. For our walks in the ByWard Market, which are done as a group because I cannot get into most places, the goal is to improve accessibility. We distribute educational handouts outlining measures that businesses can adopt. One of the most useful items involves the use of a small portable ramp. There are many groups that will build them for free or at a nominal cost.
We do the walk audits in all seasons. As you might imagine, getting around in the winter months presents many more and different challenges. I invite you to join me on one of these walks in any season. You may discover a very different perspective on our community.