The snow-clearing delays caused by back-to-back snowstorms are causing some Monctonians to feel trapped in their homes.
In an interview on Monday, Shelley Petit, Chair of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, said, “It’s causing us to be forced to stay home, and I’m not talking about going out for pleasure. It could be for work, it could be to get to the bus stop for a doctor’s appointment, it could be to get a COVID test, heaven forbid.
“It just freezes that ability to get anywhere and that’s not right.”
She explained that even when the sidewalks were cleared, they often aren’t clear enough for wheelchairs or walkers.
“So you’re going down the street with your wheelchair or using your stroller or with your guide dog,” she said, “and then you get to the corner and there’s five feet of snow. What are you supposed to do?”
Moncton’s Kathleen Légèr uses a motorized wheelchair. On Monday, she said that “transportation is a main source of independance” for those with disabilities.
Though she works from home, she said planning outings for things like grocery shopping or medical appointments needs so much planning that it fills her with dread.
She uses a service called Ability Transit, a door-to-door transportation service for those with mobility impairments. She also serves on the board of the organization.
She said there were still major transportation issues for her even with the service, because there is often nowhere they can drop her off with clear access to the building she is going to.
On Monday afternoon, City of Moncton Corporate Communications Director Isabelle Leblanc said the city was calling on independent contractors to help the city with snow clearing, and that the City was unable to clear the sidewalks as there was no room to put the snow.
On Monday evening during a regular meeting, Moncton city council discussed snow clearing at length. Councillors heard that some employees are turning down calls after working an unusually large amount of overtime in January, and that some employees from other departments in the city are now pitching in.
The City anticipates going over its $6 million snow-clearing budget and dipping into its reserve budget for years when more snow clearing is needed.
On Tuesday, the City announced a temporary all day street parking ban in certain parts of Moncton in order to facilitate snow-clearing operations, and that they planned to clear high priority sidewalks over the next day.
Légèr said she akcnowledges this year has been particularly challenging
“I get it, it’s tough especially with COVID but we’ve gotta think outside of the box we gotta come up with something,” Légèr said.
“People can’t be stranded.`”