Peterborough Access Plan Prioritizes Employment, Sidewalks, Parks, Transit – Peterborough | Globalnews.ca

A draft five-year accessibility plan has a number of infrastructure and employment priorities for the City of Peterborough.

On Monday for the general committee meeting, the city council received the draft Accessibility Plan 2024-2028.

Mark Buffone, the city’s accessibility compliance specialist, introduced the draft, noting that disability rates in Canada are rising “rapidly” across all age groups, with 27 per cent of the population aged 15 and over having at least one disability.

Peterborough’s population in 2021 was over 83,650, with over 24 percent aged 65 and over. The population is projected to reach 125,000 by 2051.

The extensive 52-page draft outlines areas for the city to better accommodate people with disabilities and help address existing barriers within the city. The goal is to move from a “compliance” model to a “compliance plus inclusion” model.

“Accessibility will increase consumer spending. It will increase business profits. It will increase the productivity of employees”, said Buffone.

The five priority areas in the Accessibility Plan and some recommendations are:

• Pavement infrastructure: Aim to repave several kilometers of pavement per year. Areas cited for redevelopment include Brealey Drive (Lansdowne to Sherbrooke), Lansdowne Street West (Park to Lock streets), Charlotte Street (Water to Park streets), Sherbrooke Street (Glenforest Boulevard on the western edge of the city) and Chemong Road (Parkhill Street) for Sunset Boulevard).
• Transit system and stops: Aim to upgrade 80 to 150 transit stops by 2028, including additional signage, sidewalk connections and more.
• Roads and intersections: Expand the number of mid-block pedestrian crossing facilities where appropriate, including the Trail Roundabout at Hunter Street East and add additional pedestrian accessible signals at all new and installed intersections and more.
• parks: Incorporate multi-use walkways and/or trails for new parks and sports fields. The report lists 11 city parks that require a walkway network. Also, add more accessible play equipment to parks. The report also cites the need for new restroom buildings at Jackson Park and Knights of Columbus Park and recommends renovations to the Eastgate Memorial Park restroom building.
• Employment opportunities: Increase the use of social media to promote recruitment and inclusive employment in the city; explore cooperative education opportunities for students with disabilities, create more barrier-free access infrastructure in employment lands, and more.

The draft report states that people with disabilities are more likely to be employed than in the past. Approximately 62 percent of working-age adults with disabilities (ages 25 to 64) were employed compared to 78 percent of people without disabilities.

“The gap between the employment rates of people with disabilities and people without disabilities narrowed from a 21 percent gap in 2017 to 16 percent in 2022,” the report states.

The report also states that 88 percent of employees with “invisible disabilities” choose not to disclose their disability at work to avoid discrimination, stigma and lack of support.

That message struck a chord with City Councilman Keith Riel, who says he recently experienced a similar situation.

“I was forced to disclose a disability that I have, which is nobody’s business but mine,” he told the council.

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Capable Con in Peterborough raises awareness of accessibility

Funding to meet accessibility recommendations will need to be allocated through the municipal budget or funding from other levels of government.

“We need to do more work to make it easier for people to be able to enter the community, to be employed without having to seek housing,” he said.

Accessibility plans are mandated by the province, Buffone noted.

The Ontario government pledged to meet its goal of making the province accessible to people with disabilities by 2025.

“The way I’ve always seen it is that the work will start in 2025, the real work,” Buffone said.

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