City of Lethbridge creating new Accessibility Mobility Master Plan

The City of Lethbridge is working on creating a strategic document that will help improve mobility around town for all residents.

“Once you take that sense of sight away, it just changes your entire perspective,” said Chris Witkowski, who is the project lead for the Accessibility Mobility Master Plan.

The plan is in its early stages of creation and project members experienced what it was like to either be in a wheelchair or live with some vision loss.

“It’s just a great way for us to understand what some of our residents go through and assist us in developing this master plan,” Witkowski said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's just a great way for us to understand what some of our residents go through and assist us in developing this master plan," Witkowski said.

For the simulation, the city enlisted help from a subcontractor who has led mobility courses in other cities across the country.

“I like the fact that Lethbridge is one of the first in Canada to come up with a comprehensive master plan for universal access for the whole city,” said Stan Leyenhorst, the owner of Universal Access Design Inc.

“It’s important for everybody. People often think of accessibility relating to mobility challenges but it’s much bigger than that.

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“What we look at and what my motto for my own company is: ‘Access for everyone, everywhere, all the time.'”

The city says it’s looking to do exactly that — give mobility access for everyone in Lethbridge, including meeting the accessibility needs of the aging population.

The City of Lethbridge will now be contacting the public and stakeholders for further input and hopes to have a completed Accessibility Mobility Master Plan ready to submit to council by next summer.