It was a night out at the movies that Kate Grisim won’t soon forget.
Grisim, who is in a wheelchair, was on her way home from the Grant Park Shopping Centre, but was unable to get to the bus stop at the spot where she usually catches it outside the mall thanks to a buildup of snow.
That forced her to head several stops over to Grant Avenue and Wilton Street, where as she made her way across a service road heading to the stop, and promptly got stuck — for 10 minutes.
After being pushed out, she headed to Grant Avenue and Stafford Street where she finally found a stop that she could access.
“It sucks, it really sucks,” said Grisim. “Not everyone has to deal with this. You just want to relax with friends and you’re not actually able to access public space, which is a problem.”
Grisim thinks the city is not doing a good enough job plowing a path leading up to bus stops.
“The stop is kind of cleared, but getting to the bus stop isn’t too clear, which you think would be common sense.”
The city says the service road on Grant and Wilton leading to the stop is a Priority 3 residential road and won’t be cleared until a full residential plow is done.
They say bus stops are cleared at the same time as major routes.
“Those bus stops were clear originally,” Michael Cantor, manager of street maintenance at the City of Winnipeg said. “We just got snow a little bit after that and mild temperatures made it soft which made it hard for her.
Just hours after Global News gave the city a call regarding the situation, a plow came up and tried to clear up the spot where the woman got stuck.
The city hopes all people who spot problem areas will call 311.
“We have inspectors but it would be nice for the public to help us, we’ll send equipment and we’ll address that.”
But Grisim said she shouldn’t have to worry about making a phone call before a night out.
“It’s causing disabled people and others to not feel comfortable going out and that’s very sad.” Grisim said.
WATCH: Portage and Main – Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities
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