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Milena Khazanavicius and her guide dog, Hope, find navigating the streets of Halifax’s North End difficult even in the best of circumstances.
But after she was nearly hit by a car last week while crossing an intersection that was being rerouted to create a bike lane, she said the city needed to do more to improve accessibility in construction zones.
“Over the past three years, the city’s construction and shipping in general have fallen behind,” said Kazanavicius, who is blind.
Kazanavicius nearly died on the evening of August 14 when she got out of her car near the corner of Windsor and Almond streets and found the road blocked.
She turned back and tried to cross the street from another part of the intersection, and Hope guided her around some gravel and obstacles in the construction zone. But she said she couldn’t hear the usual pedestrian signals, and cars began honking at her, with one vehicle nearly hitting her.
She said that’s when another pedestrian stepped in and helped her cross the street, guiding her around construction poles and another roadblock.
A spokesperson for the Halifax Regional Municipality said after receiving complaints about the intersection, it directed the contractor the next day to take action “to ensure the area is accessible to all road users.”
In response to questions about accessibility in construction areas, the city issued a statement saying that “these issues may be more difficult for people who are blind or have low vision.”
The city said it had reopened one area of the intersection, but Kazanavicius said it was not enough to make the street passable again.
She noted that signs warning of a construction zone ahead obstruct the sidewalk and may not be visible to people walking with crutches, creating a potential risk of injury.
She said the constant relocation or addition of road signs, roadblocks and signage made it more difficult to navigate the area because it made her routes inconsistent and impossible to remember.
On Aug. 16, CBC News returned to the intersection of Windsor and Almont and found the barricade had been moved again and the accessible pedestrian signal was inoperable.
The roadblocks make it nearly impossible for Kazanavicius to get from her regular bus stop to her nearby home because she has to cross a non-designated area with no traffic lights or crosswalks.
When asked again about the situation, a city spokesperson said staff frequently patrolled areas to ensure they were user-friendly and easily accessible.
“We are continually working to improve accessibility of our building projects,” the statement said.
For Khazanavicius, this isn’t the first time she’s spoken out about what she calls a dangerous intersection.
In a letter sent July 9 to the Halifax Regional Municipality, she and other advocates with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind expressed concerns about the proposed design of the bike lane along Almond Street.
The group wrote that while they recognize the need for bike lanes, “the deployment of bicycle infrastructure and its impact on vulnerable pedestrians remains poorly understood.”
The CNIB had warned that this particular construction project would affect people who are blind or visually impaired because its offices were nearby. But Khazanavicius, who has been advocating for the rights of people with disabilities for seven years, felt her complaints were ignored at the time.
“I can attest that I have had private conversations with those responsible and that some errors have been identified,” she said.
A city staff report in February said city staff consulted with community advocates, including people with vision loss and the Walk ‘n Roll Halifax group, road builders, engineers and developers to investigate. Improving accessibility rules around construction sites.
The city said the CNIB letter only dealt with design aspects, not construction issues, but that they had “engaged with CNIB prior to construction” and maintained ongoing discussions.
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