A large lake of ice along a sidewalk can be seen at 680 Kildare Avenue in Transcona, and it has some seniors who live there feeling isolated and trapped.
Lorna Ladobruk, who is disabled and uses a power wheelchair, says she can’t get groceries or prescriptions at the nearby Safeway.
“It makes me so angry…and has really taken a toll on our wellbeing here,” said Ladobruk.
For residents the large puddles and ice have caused home care aides to cancel appointments due to a lack of access.
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“I’m totally cut off, and I mean totally,” said Ladobruk.
Ladobruk wrote her city councillor Shawn Nason, but says she wasn’t satisfied with his ‘blanket reply’.
Nason said in a statement emailed to Global News, “This section of sidewalk has been problematic annually for many years, if not a decade or more. There is a deficit in addressing these problem locations and to my knowledge there isn’t a master plan to catch up.”
Kathy Rennie, the WHRA Senior Coordinator for Transcona can attest to the severe impact the conditions have had on the people she works with in the building.
“This affects so much of their wellbeing,” she said. “Sitting and looking out the window and watching people going by and knowing they can’t leave — that’s really hurting them.”
Rennie says the responsibility falls on the city, and has one message for city councillors.
“Come here and walk through the puddles and tell us to our face what you’re doing,” said Rennie. “That’s something the tenants here would like to hear.”
The City of Winnipeg said in a statement they are working ‘around the clock’ to clear ice and pump water from the city’s sidewalks.
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