Calgary wheelchair exercise reveals where accessibility gaps remain

A single inch of concrete stands surprisingly tall when you're in a wheelchair. That's one of the lessons Dave Smith learned while rolling around downtown Calgary as part of an exercise to give people a first-hand sense of what it's like for disabled people to navigate the city.

Getting on and off C-Trains, up and over small concrete ridges, prove to be particularly challenging

CBC News Posted: Dec 03, 2015 4:55 PM EST | Last Updated: December 3, 2015

Dave Smith, president of the Calgary Construction Association, spent a morning trying to get around the city in a wheelchair to get a first-hand look at the challenges people with disabilities face. (Evelyne Asselin/CBC)

A single inch of concrete stands surprisingly tall when you're in a wheelchair.

That's one of the lessonsDave Smith learned while spendingThursday morning rollingaround downtown streets and sidewalks. It waspart of an exercise designed to give Calgarians a first-hand sense of what it's like for disabled peopleto navigate the city.

Thepresident of the Calgary Construction Association said one the most difficult thingsfor himwas getting over small concrete ridges where the sidewalk connects to street level.

"It's amazing," he said. "About a one-inch ridge and you really run into problems."

Allan Cook, who lives in East Village and gets around in a wheelchair, hopes exercises like this will help at "making people aware" of the challenges people with disabilities face on a daily basis.

Allan Cook shows off medals he earned in the Calgary Marathon 10K race. Long distances like that don't pose him problems, but getting on and off the C-Train does when his fellow commuters don't give him space. (Eveylne Asselin/CBC)

"Like, you try to get on the LRT and everybody's standing in front of the door, andthey're not giving you any room to get on there," Cook said, citing just one small example of regular frustrations he endures.

Getting on and off the LRT was the biggest challengeCoun. Druh Farrell faced, as she participated in the same exercise.

"The C-Train was the worst," she said."I would have been stuck without using my legs, so I cheated."

Coun. Druh Farrell participated in an exercise designed to give Calgarians a sense of what it's like to get around the city in a wheelchair. (Evelyne Asselin/CBC)

Accessible Housing executive directorJeff Dyer, who helped organize the exercise, said it's part of the city'sresponse to anotice of motion Farrell put forward at city council aimed at improving accessibility in Calgary.

"It's an opportunity for us to learn and to have a better understanding of the barriers that people face in our city, and definitely it's an infrastructure conversation today," Dyer said.

"There's a lot of people in our city that are excluded simply because they're in a wheelchair, and we don't see that as acceptable," headded.

"No city that's amazing in the world excludes a portion of the population."

Accessible Housing executive director Jeff Dyer, who helped organize the exercise, said it's an opportunity to learn more about the challenges facing Calgarians with disabilities. (Evelyne Asselin/CBC)

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