Tuesday, June 27, 2012

Waterloo Region's visually-impaired community is still waiting for city councillors and planners to implement accessibility features at new roundabouts, especially for pedestrians with full or partial vision loss.

Today's Waterloo Region Record focuses on 14-year old Alyssa Clelland, who is currently training to navigate crosswalks on her own, but feels extremely vulnerable crossing the new roundabouts in her neighbourhood.

Suggestions for improving the accessibility of the roundabouts include chirping pedestrian signals, "dark" lights which are activated only when a pedestrian is waiting, and crosswalks either above or well outside the roundabouts.  So far, however, there have not been any firm commitments to put any of these solutions in place.

To read the Waterloo Region Record article, "Roundabouts Create Barriers for the Blind" click here.