Sidewalks at the Fens at Westland Avenue remained iced over yesterday as complaints about the treacherous conditions mount.
(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)
If you think it has been tough trudging along Boston's snowy, icy, slushy streets and sidewalks this week, try it in a wheelchair.
The city has been a frozen obstacle course for people with disabilities, a problem compounded by businesses, institutions, and state and city agencies that have ignored their obligation to clear the way for people in wheelchairs to get from their homes to city streets, according to an advocacy group for the disabled.
Among those failing to sufficiently clear away snow have been the state's Division of Conservation and Recreation, Northeastern University, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, said the organization, called the Neighborhood Access Group.
"It's pervasive, unrelenting, and demoralizing," said the head of the group, John Kelly. He said some members may not attend their own holiday party this afternoon at a housing complex in the Fenway, because sidewalks in the vicinity are still impassable, crosswalks blocked, and wheelchair ramps treacherous.
"Many of us can't even leave our houses," he said.
The organization attempted to shame public officials into action, posting pictures on the Internet and issuing an open appeal to the governor and the mayor.
The city responded to the Neighborhood Access Group's urgings, dispatching inspectors Thursday to nearly three dozen locations the organization identified as trouble spots. The inspectors issued snow-removal tickets to many violators, including the Department of Conservation and Recreation, even though the city may be unable to collect the $150-per-ticket fine from the state.
Meanwhile, crews from the department fanned out across the Fenway to clear sidewalks, officials said. Wendy Fox, department spokeswoman, said that city inspectors "don't have the authority" to ticket the state agency.
Fox said department employees had cleared sidewalks in the Fenway area three times in recent days but would return again yesterday afternoon.
Even though city officials insisted that all city-owned property had been shoveled adequately, another Neighborhood Access Group member said she has been stuck in her Boston Housing Authority apartment for three days because there's no safe way out.
"They shoveled the sidewalks for able-bodied people," said Eileen Brewster, who lives in the Alice Heyward Taylor Apartments in Roxbury. "The path is too narrow, and I can't make it. If I tried to go forward, my chair would go to the left or the right. There's not enough traction to get through the snow.
"It's a wheelchair after all, not a snowmobile," she said.
But even if she could steer the chair along the sidewalk, she said, she'd still be unable to make it to the street. By late yesterday afternoon, the ramp remained icy and too scary to tackle.
"I'd probably get stuck, or my chair would flip over onto the street," said Brewster, exasperated.
"It's a constant battle. Why do I have to call every winter for the same thing? This should be automatic."
Mayor Thomas M. Menino's spokeswoman, Dorothy Joyce, said the city responds to complaints as quickly as possible. In the past week alone, city inspectors have issued 1,200 snow removal violations, she said.
"When we're alerted to areas that are a problem, we get out and take care of it," she said. "We try to get every place we can quickly, but we understand there are disabled residents living in our city who may need special attention. They should please let us know where those areas are, and we will get out there as quickly as we can."
Frederick McGrail, a Northeastern University spokesman, said the school tries to keep its property clear and safe for students, employees, and neighborhood residents.
"Our goal is to make sure all of our property and in fact some of the adjacent property is clear and safe for pedestrians," he said. "Having said that, it's a real challenge when you have record snowfalls and three snowstorms back to back to back. We're doing everything we can."
Bernadette Horgan, Boston Symphony Orchestra's director of public relations, said she was unaware of any snow-removal complaints the BSO had received.
"We take clearing our walks and ramps very seriously and have people full time on that project, " she said. "On a Saturday we have been 6,000 and 7,000 people at the hall. I know there's a ton of snow in the last week, but I'm not aware of any direct complaints that have come our way."
Kelly of the Neighborhood Access Group was unimpressed by the city's efforts to date and was still unsure how many of his group's members would make it to today's celebration.
"Individuals shouldn't have to enforce city laws," he said. "We shouldn't have to make complaints in order to get the city to act. We don't have to complain to get cars towed during a snow emergency. The city just goes out and does it. If the city wants to hire disabled people to try to leave their house and call in enforcement, that might be something we can consider."
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
