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City aims to make it easier to move

Getting around Coquitlam in a wheelchair or walking with a cane should be a little easier in the future after the city updates its design guidelines and sidewalk maintenance policies to improve accessibility.

Getting around Coquitlam in a wheelchair or walking with a cane should be a little easier in the future after the city updates its design guidelines and sidewalk maintenance policies to improve accessibility.

The revamp is underway as the city is poised to see a dramatic shift in demographics, with more elderly and disabled people trying to get around with walkers, wheelchairs and canes.

A study conducted last year found numerous obstacles to mobility - from power poles planted in the middle of sidewalks to curb letdowns that send people into traffic instead of a crosswalk - and recommended numerous fixes for safer travel.

"We thought, let's take a look at what we've got and make sure we're doing the best we can do," said Coun. Selina Robinson, who heads the city's Universal Access-Ability Advisory Committee, which sparked the review.

Consultants Opus International visited older neighbourhoods in southwest Coquitlam and new neighbourhoods in the northeast and found room for improvement in how sidewalks are built and maintained. They found bushes encroaching on narrow sidewalks, pavement that was uneven and steeply-sloped landings. Robinson said the findings showed much work is needed to make the city easy to navigate for people with mobility issues or visual impairment.

Opus recommended several changes that will be incorporated into Neighbourhood Design Guidelines, the Subdivision Servicing Bylaw and sidewalk maintenance programs.

Among the proposals are requirements for clear and level landings at the top and bottom of curb ramps to make it easier to turn in a wheelchair, minimum slopes of 2% to make waiting areas safer, the use of slip-resistant surfaces, closed treads on staircases and continuous handrails. The city also wants wider (1.5 m) sidewalks, and traffic islands that provide refuge and a safe crossing zone for people with visual impairment or mobility issues.

Robinson said the city's sidewalks can't all be upgraded at once but new construction will be expected to meet new standards and sidewalks needing maintenance will be repaired to these standards, too. Among the places likely to see these changes first are high-traffic areas such as transit stops, along the Evergreen Line and in City Centre, Robinson said.

"We have limited resources.... we also need to be realistic about what's doable," she said.

Looking at what other cities have done has also provided some insight, she said, recalling the efforts of New Westminster council to study mobility issues by touring with people in wheelchairs. Robinson also visited Portland, Oregon recently and came back with photos showing innovative ways of making people safer in crosswalks.

"This is really about walkability and mobility in our community for everybody." Robinson said, noting the committee is also developing a checklist to make city events and festivals more accessible.

Still, it will take a while to update guidelines, policies and bylaws to latest standards and involves researching the latest provincial, national and North American best practices, said Catherine Mohoruk, the city's manager of transportation planning. She said the review is underway and many of the changes will likely be brought before Coquitlam council in the coming months.

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com