Father pleads for better crossings after daughter's wheelchair struggles

Monday 01 February 2021

A father is calling on Jersey's Government to make roads more accessible for disabled islanders, after his daughter encountered problems crossing the road due to water flooding the pavement, and being constantly splashed.

Peter, whose daughter requires the use of a wheelchair, said that a number of resurfaced crossings in St. Helier and island-wide were not suitable for disabled users, gathering large bodies of water during rainfall and making crossing an ordeal.

Focusing on one particularly deep example outside Helvetia House School, where the road has recently been resurfaced, he told Express that “when you are with a child in a wheelchair, you’re limited to where you can cross – even when you’re with young children more generally you’re limited.”

Pictured: The amount of built-up water at many essential pedestrian crossings, such as by Helvetia, makes going across the road far more difficult for wheelchair-users.

He explained that, reluctantly, they have to use the crossing when they are in the area and others like it, despite the fact that “cars whizz past and end up splashing people."

"As a driver myself, you can’t always avoid a puddle, you’re trying your best and you’re conscious of pedestrians, but it shouldn’t be up to the driver to have to swerve to the other side of the road to avoid the puddle," Peter said.

After posting his concerns on Twitter, he received a retweet from Constable Simon Crowcroft, who acknowledged “lots of similar examples of ‘ponding’” in the parish that needed “dealing with”. He said that he would be taking it up with the Government.

Though Peter said he was grateful for the response and engagement, he added that his family had raised complaints before about the issue, but nothing had been done.

Pictured: Peter pointed out that even cars driving at normal speeds can’t possibly avoid splashing the pond on the re-levelled pavement.

“I shouldn’t have had to tweet about it,” he remarked, adding there should be a “simple courtesy of convenience and ability to access pavements while not get soaking wet – there’s lots of posturing that we have a disabled strategy, but I would argue it’s so disjointed and doesn’t look at the reality, I’m afraid.”

Indeed, he explained that this instance highlighted wider concerns he had regarding the island’s infrastructure, which he said often left those with disabilities in difficult positions when moving around.

Peter went on to share his frustration that on many kerbs in town, the road surfacing is not properly lined up when finished, meaning that users “have to tip the wheelchair to go up kerbs where you should just be able to push the wheelchair up.”

While his daughter has the support of both her parents, he noted that “you have people in wheelchairs and electric wheelchairs who don’t have that privilege of someone to help them up and down the curb or somewhere else”, leading to them getting bumped when moving or having difficulty making it onto the pavement at all.

Similarly, he pointed out how often he sees scaffolding stretching to the kerb, hindering wheelchair users, and forcing them to find other routes or take great difficulty in squeezing their way through.

Thanks for drawing this location to our attention. It’s a @GovJersey matter so we will fwd to them. Lots of similar examples of ‘ponding’ inc some on @StHelierJsy roads and they need dealing with to make walking convenient and safe. https://t.co/8W8u0sMizt

— Simon Crowcroft (@SimonCrowcroft) January 27, 2021

The concerns echo a 2017 report on disability in the island, which showed that 41% of disabled islanders experienced difficulty travelling around Jersey, and 39% struggled moving around other places.

Constable Crowcroft told Express he felt many of the issues were linked to the island not having an updated sustainable transport policy, adding: “I’ve been calling for two decades for a walking and cycling strategy for St. Helier, and the Council of Ministers has simply been unable to produce them.”

On the topic of ponding, the Constable said that, while it was not his department, he expected the Infrastructure team and the contractors would likely to fix it soon through draining it or adjusting roadway levels, and that “we’re constantly feeding back to our parish technical team.”

He encouraged people to keep highlighting any issues, saying: “I’m always grateful to people for reporting these things to me because I can pass them on.”

Pictured: In 2017, nearly half of islanders with disabilities reported experiencing difficulties moving around the island.

For Peter, though, he wants to see words become action in future to ensure such infrastructure hurdles no longer arise for people with disabilities.

Discussing the Government’s Disability Strategy moving forward, he expressed a desire to see the strategy placed at ”the heart” of decision making across departments, and for more parents and carers like his own family represented on the St. Helier working group.

“Everyone has a part to play in this society, [disabled people] are not wanting to be awkward,” he said. “My daughter doesn’t want to be awkward, she wants to be treated as much as possible the same as everyone else and have the same rights.

“The things we take for granted, other people don’t have that privilege, and we need to make sure that, actually, as far as humanly possible, they can be a fully functioning part of our society.”

Express has contacted the Government for comment, and is awaiting a reply.