Access Living Joins the #WalkableWinters Campaign
One night last February, Better Streets Chicago organizers Kyle Lucas and Michael Podgers trudged out into fast accumulating snow. With shovels in hand, Lucas and Podgers began clearing sidewalks, bus stops, and crosswalks determined to make a point: the city’s current sidewalk snow clearance policy, which places the responsibility for clearing all sidewalks on the adjacent property owner, is insufficient and ineffective. Every year, haphazard sidewalk snow and ice clearance renders the city’s sidewalks—a critical piece of municipal infrastructure—extremely dangerous for pedestrians. This is unacceptable. We are here to bring about a change. Fortunately, we’re no longer alone in our efforts.
The Better Streets Chicago team is thrilled to announce that Access Living, Chicago’s leading force advocating for and providing services to Chicago’s disability community, has joined the #WalkableWinters campaign. Since 1980, Access Living has ignited the power and pride of Chicago’s disability community providing the services and advocacy needed to ensure we live in a world free from barriers and discrimination against our neighbors living with disabilities. We are honored and humbled to have such a powerful organization joining the #WalkableWinters campaign and providing Better Streets Chicago with critical support needed to ensure this campaign succeeds.
We couldn’t think of a better partner for this campaign. When the campaign first started, initially as Twitter posts and growing into a petition (which you can still sign here), we heard from many neighbors with disabilities who shared their stories about dealing with the massive challenge of navigating sidewalks poorly cleared of snow and ice. Since beginning our partnership with Access Living, we received confirmation that these are not just anecdotal problems. Snow and ice covered sidewalks is Access Living’s constituents’ number one winter related transportation issue. With this campaign we aim to make sure that changes for good. Nobody should be inhibited from getting around during the winter months, because of poor sidewalk snow clearance policy.
Better Streets Chicago is joined by Access Living transportation policy analyst Laura Saltzman. Laura is providing Better Streets Chicago organizers and volunteers working on the campaign material and organizing support needed to make this campaign a winner. We are grateful for this and look forward to great success in the coming months as we take the #WalkableWinters campaign to the next level.
If you have any questions or are interested in getting involved in the campaign, please contact: winter@betterstreetschicago.org or Laura Saltzman at lsaltzman@accessliving.org.