Safety concerns over the lack of railings at West sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 main hockey rink should be addressed sooner than later, city councillors say.聽
Councillors expressed support this week for a suggestion by members of a new accessibility and inclusion committee that more railings be installed throughout Royal LePage Place.聽
鈥淚 have seen individuals struggling on the steps in Royal LePage Place. It is an issue,鈥 Mayor Gord Milsom said.聽
He and other councillors said they鈥檇 like to see city staff include funding for additional railings at the arena to be included in the 2025 municipal budget.聽
鈥淲hen it comes to safety, I don鈥檛 think we should delay,鈥 said Coun. Jason Friesen.聽
Other top recommendations, said by the committee members to require urgent attention, include posting signs at a new accessible playground called Juliasa国际传媒 Junction that some of the surfaces can get hot to the touch during summer days.聽
Coun. Rick De Jong said it 鈥渟houldn鈥檛 be too complicated鈥 to put up such signs, though Friesen expressed surprise that such signs weren鈥檛 already in place.聽
鈥淚 would have thought the playground supplier might have had that idea, but apparently not,鈥 Friesen said.聽
Councillors heard from staff that the arena currently only has a few areas where people with mobility challenges can lean on railings to get to their seats in the rink, which has a capacity of 1,500.
More than 100 people filled out a survey aimed at getting their views on the overall ease with which people in West sa国际传媒 who have mobility issues can get around. One of the most common suggestions was for an accelerated sidewalk construction program.
Other ideas were for more benches and shelters at bus stops and flat ramps to the water at beachside parks.
City staff have so far not included funding for any of the 45 action items proposed in the committeesa国际传媒 report.聽
