Organizers hope an event will help Winnipeggers get a glimpse of what it’s like to navigate under Portage and Main in someone else’s wheels.
The Winnipeg Trails Association’s Anders Swanson along with Allen Mankewich will set out a wheelchair Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. to let people try to cross Portage and Main as someone with impaired mobility.
Able-bodied people often have trouble navigating the underground concourse, said Mankewich, never mind those who deal with mobility issues.
“It’s a frustrating experience,” he told 680 CJOB. “The wayfinding isn’t that great, those kinds of things aren’t marked that well.”
WATCH: The Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities shares what kind of impact the opening of Portage and Main could have on people with disabilities.
The idea to do the event was Swanson’s, said Mankewich.
“He’s going to put out a wheelchair and see if people want to experience it for themselves … they’ll have that opportunity.”
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Those who say people with disabilities can simply head over one block and cross the street may not be aware how far that distance actually is, he added.
“If you go in any direction, you’re looking at a minimum of at least two football fields you have to travel,” he said.
Some intersections are “not as well lit, and even in the winter, you want to take the shortest path from one point to another.”
The wheelchair will be left “out in the wild” after today’s event to see what happens, Makewich said.
“If you can’t go one way for some reason, I want to see that other option is available to others as well. That is what I’d personally like to see.”
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