Thursday, 4 August 2011

Bugging the City Council

Today I have been inspecting access around the university focussing on public infrastructure around campus.
I have found that access via Distillery road is almost impossible to wheelchair users and have written to CiarĂ¡n Hayes who is the City Council Director of Services for Transport and Infrastructure recommending that the problem is rectified.
Here is a transcript of the letter:

Dear Sir

As Equality Officer of the Student Union this year I am writing to you to bring to your attention some rather major problems regarding public infrastructure and pedestrian access around the University.
In particular I am referring to the footpaths leading to the University on Distillery road.
There are quite obvious problems regarding access here, in particular for wheelchair users. Neither sides of the road here have acceptable footpaths and access for wheelchair users is simply not catered for, forcing wheelchair users to use the road for the entire stretch. This is very dangerous, especially in the winter when there is no light in the mornings and evenings.
The corner of to the right causes severe problems as the path completely disappears forcing all pedestrians to walk on the road which again I find unacceptable and dangerous as thousands of students access the University from here every day. This corner is also prone to flooding every time it rains and is inaccessible even via foot for most of the winter.
Further past the corner, on both sides of the road the footpath is also unacceptable. On the left it is obstructed by bollards and the path actually disappears and becomes a gravel track which again, is not possibly to access in a wheelchair. On the right there are either no drops, or insufficient drops in the footpath to be wheelchair accessible.
I have included photographs of the areas which I have observed as being problematic and I hope and trust that you will agree that some changes must be made to accommodate for students with impaired mobility here at NUIG. It is clear that NUIG brings a lot to Galway City, we have around 15,000 students here who are clearly a huge asset to the city, it would be great if they were all able to gain access to the campus easily and those studying, working or teaching who are wheelchair users not feel persecuted against.

I await your reply

Yours sincerely

William O’Brien BSc
Equality Officer











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