Do not park on city streets at night

At any time during the year it is not wise to park on down town streets  during the night. Street cleaning operations take place on the city's main streets during the early morning hours (usually between midnight and 8am) and in residential areas between 8am and 4pm.  You could be ticketed or towed by a very expensive professional contractor.  In order for the city to do its' job proper and get the job done in a reasonable time, you must not impede their progress.  Every time they have to call for the tow truck it sets them back (at least) 1/2 hr which wastes precious tax dollars used to perform this needed operation as they wait for the vehicle to be moved or return to redo the area.

Often, when time is short or the budget is low, the tow truck is not called.  In winter months, parking during cleaning operations can create bad hazards for other drivers when you do leave.  Patches of snow remain after plowing that turn into packed ice and when it snows again (it takes about 4 days to clean all the city streets after a dump of snow) it becomes extremely slippery after more snow builds up on it.  Street sweepers leave a patch of dust that they may not pick up for a month or more after they finish the street.  The patch grows as the dust collects between cleaning operations and adds to our bad air quality.

Independent Access Study 2010

On Friday, the 21st of May 2010 I "Walk-N-Rolled" to Pine Center Mall via the accessible Prince George City Transit route 46, "Queensway Street".  That journey is exciting in its' own special way.  You really have to be inside my head on that journey to see the excitement trust me!: ).  40 minutes from my starting point found me sitting in the rain at the Pine Center Transfer point; the popular destination of many a transit rider & home to 100 stores!!  A large percent of potential riders of transit consist of independent mobility aided "customers" like myself.

Below is shot of the Google Maps page showing Pine Center Mall in Prince George.  The Bus Transfer point is in top left (N-W) corner, main entrances are Top Right (N-E) side and opposite (S-W) side of mall


 



























The transfer station itself was just upgraded to shelter all riders who wait for connecting routes to individual destinations.The first time a person arrives at Pine Center they wonder where they easily enter the mall.   There are main entrances an approximate equal distance by looking right or left.  The closest entrance begins the journey left.  Sears has the entrance illusion covered, their access door leading straight into the mall is there facing the Transfer Station, just to the right across the sidewalk.
















Upon closer inspection however, I found their doors not to be accessible independently for a person on a chair.  These are a double set of doors with no buttons to open and a low vision person may miss it completely due to low contrast.  I would likely Walk And Roll further towards the left of the transfer point as the right side hardly resembled accessibility at first glance.

Further down to the right, every part of it on a wide uncluttered  mostly covered sidewalk I saw no electric opening doors.  I came to the Primary "Main Entrance" along the North- East side, past 2 or 3 entrances into Sears and 2 from RBC.  It was the "All Accessible Route but the all the entrance doors were manually operated.  WTF Pine Center, are you teasing us mobility users?


No Buttons.  So much for trusting the easy way!





Being more able then most who use mobility walkers (*younger too), certainly way more able then those confined to an independent life in a wheelchair for complete mobility gave me an advantage.  I accessed the Mall despite their efforts to tease and deny entrance to a percentage of their population.  I decided to stop in and enjoy a Tim Horton's' affordable Breakfast sandwich on a 12 grain bagel, Hash brown and extra large coffee black as a reward..  They just got a location in the mall!

Thanks for being there, Tim. You remember us right?  PGWalkNRoll has been in many of your stores in Prince George.  I personally purchase the same breakfast every time.  Hey- could you check out that entrance?  A population of left minded individuals have had difficulty entering had to roll all the way around the building to enjoy your establishment.  Oh wait a minute "blush".  I see the entrance closest to you is accessible, let us check that out.  Joann at the MS Office in Prince George had mentioned this door needed closer inspection; it has a button to allow complete access and certain parts of it may interfere access.  I could not spot it; my report will be on my other blog soon.  It is also down the route I had passed up if I had gone Right from the Transfer Point.

Above is the other main entrance/exit to Pine Center Mall.  I had always gone left from the Transfer point due to its' year round accessibility.  I cursed Pine Center Mall again and praised them at the same time for making one entrance accessible for the population who look left and go that way perhaps for the weary Christmas shopper.  I wondered what Joann's problem with access was, these doors definitely passed every test myself and the city gave it concerning access.  The route to the door from the Bus stop concerned me, it hardly seemed accessible to me.

This is a close up of the path that takes me to that entrance, turning right instead of left.  That is crushed packed gravel for a short strip; an abandoned shopping cart could prevent access.  In order to follow the route to the accessible entrance into Pine Center Mall while travailing via City Transit one turns left as the gravel path ends.  One problem I can see is vehicles with rear low protrusions along narrow confined walk areas.  This would be a hazard for low vision persons.  Most power mobility riders would be blocked for safe access.  The side walk is not ramped here to the other side of these vehicles forcing alternate route along heavy traffic access road and intersection starting from the crosswalk.

 

Past this point one can find an accessible exit from what could be a crowded sidewalk and access a less- congested area of traffic along the way to more accessible entrances to the mall.  It is also accessible for those who wish to continue down to the main entrance in relieve safety.

 

 

As the sidewalk ended at the end of this spot, one passes a shipping and receiving area for Sears Canada. before accessing a real wide accessible sidewalk area leading into the secondary and accessible mall entrance ( just to the left of Sportcheck).  Wait- This entrance here has a Button!

 

 

The button opens both doors from this door first, then the inside door opens.  It closes in reverse.  the Button  is on the opposite side of the door that opens.  The button on the inside opens the door in reverse order allowing easy exit.  BOTH FREAKING DOORS OPEN!!!  All double doors should do this. Way to go Pine Center Mall!!!

Since this is not the destination I came to see on this side of the mall, I traveled onward a 100 meter (~300 ft)  distance down a wide uncovered smooth walk surface to the automatic doors.  I pushed the first door's button and the door opened out.  Cool .  I had to move out of the way as the door opened expectantly outward.  Lots of room to do that, although I don't recall if the door was clearly marked as swinging outward.  They should be, although the door was slowly opening.  It also just opened the first door, another button inside opened the other door.  The opposite was true on the inside door going out.  I suppose this could be a security thing with both doors opening independently and it caused no real problem I could foresee it passed my Enter / Exit Accessibility test.

In the winter months I did not notice if the route for the bus to the accessible entrance was kept clear.  I trust that the well paid staff of Pine Center that clear the areas around Pine Center had everyone's accessibility in mind as they cleared around those trees and gravel on the first part of the route?  I will be checking this coming winter, after we deal with June, July and August!

Access Award of Merit Update 2010

At the April 2010 Annual Civic Dinner hosted by the City of Prince George, the Prince George Accessibility Advisory Committee.(PGAAC- Represented by Fern H) awarded the "Access Award of Merit" to the Prince George Council of Seniors (PGCOS)  through Lola-Dawn Fennel, Director.

The award is presented annually to individuals, groups or businesses that have made a significant contribution towards a barrier free community, which is both universally accessible and inclusive to all residents.  PGCOS is responsible for creating universally designed healthy sustainable senior communities in Prince George.   They have had input in every construction that Seniors may frequent; most areas are shared with a "younger then senior" population of disabled persons.  Many municipal "accessibility bylaws" are created due to problems the Senior community face, we all hope to become seniors someday and we all frequent the same areas 98% of the time.  The changes are a permanent feature and will be used by future citizens to make life completly accessible for all.

The Access Award of Merit is the highest honour granted by the City of Prince George in recognition of contributions to universal inclusiveness to improve the quality of life for all residents in this northern community.  Supporting seniors supports ourselves.

ConnaughtHill

Open from April to September annually and located in Prince George’s historic east side, this park gives a picturestic 360 degree view overlooking the original Prince George town sites. It has long been part of the history of the area.

In time immortal, the hill was an island in the confluence of the Mighty Fraser and the Nechako Rivers. Natives in the area settled the community as the land opened up. They would not go up on Connaught Hill as they had legends of the hill being an ancient Beaver Lodge where the Beaver King lived and terrorized them.

Thousands of years past and the Europeans came and altered the history of the land to include themselves. The hill held a water tower in Prince George’s early days; gravity feed supplied the water to the hundred or so residents of the original 2 town sites. In 1931, British Columbia’s first artificially illuminated ski jump was constructed on the hill’s western slope. The jump was constructed in February. It measured 30 meters and was host to the Canadian Olympic trials of that decade.

Prince George’s first female Mayor Carrie Jane Gray (1958-59) witnessed the opening of the park on Connaught Hill during her time at City Hall. The attractive and fragrant flora is native to the area; some smaller wildlife has been spotted on the slopes. Today, during the spring, summer and early fall, residents and visitors alike can enjoy the beauty of the park and view from 8am to 11pm at no cost. It is accessed by traveling along Queensway and turning west on Connaught drive a few blocks north of 17th Avenue.

In November to January Prince George is lit up with the lights of the festive season in the “Northern Lights Festival”. Starting west of town with “Candy Cane Lane” (Upland Street at Ferry Drive), residents and visitors are treated to seasonal lights and spectacular nativity displays all over the city. In 2007, Connaught Hill joined in and hosted a land of lights, candy canes and seasonal characters during the Northern Lights Festival. Come enjoy Prince George in any season!

ForestsForTheWorld

The city of Prince George was developed amid the great forests and waterways of British Columbia’s central interior. Within the city, we have preserved the beauty and tranquility of our natural heritage in lots of parks and trails, many of which are naturally accessible to persons using mobility devices.

“Forests for the World” is one such park located about 8kms (Roughly 5 miles) from city center in Prince George’s extreme backyard. It borders the University of Northern British Columba on the north, who use it for a demonstration forest for their forestry courses amid the turmoil of public access in the park.

Public access is granted by turning left on 15th Ave at Victoria Street to Foothills Blvd, turn left to Cranbrook Hill road. Follow Cranbrook Hill road quite a way and turn left on Sinden road (South) to the FFTW parking lot. Take some time to explore along the way, young growth forests of mixed Conifer and Deciduous trees and limited residential properties make a nice relaxing ride to the scenic area you will enter shortly.

As with all parks within Prince George, conventional vehicles, motorbikes & ATV’s are forbidden. It is wise to carry noisemakers to avoid running into the predatory wildlife that also inhabit the woods around the city. Enjoy the bush and please be “fire wise” in dry summer conditions so that the forest remains for its’ many visitors and educational pursuits.

September2009-needspudatelinks

The city has been active over the month of July. Work began on upgrading the front lawn of City Hall (Veteran’s Plaza) to improve the cenotaph. The old one was constructed of stone and cement and was becoming weathered and eroded. The new one will be full of granite and should weather the years much better. As well as the cenotaph, benches, First Nation art and more trees will fill much of the area. Several “danger” trees had to be removed and the “Prince George Woodturner’s Guild” was commissioned as a partner in the project to turn the wood into items like bowls, vases and other unique items.

 

Updated 2010

Work is continuing on the “Gateway Retirement Complex” at 20 Ave and Victoria Street. The complex is now under the direction of Northern Health and it is expected to be operational early in the fall of 2009. The complex will be a mixed community with the most severely needy housed next to Victoria Street. The complex runs east along 20 Ave and it will include different levels of need, ending in a completely independent apartment style living area close to the corner of 20 Ave and Oak Street.

Another project that was completed in July was the “Seniors’ Community Park”, located at the south end of Masich Place Stadium, in the corner between the PGSS Field and Masich Place, right beside a large parking lot.  This park is part of the BC Governments’ program for community fitness; a grant from “Act Now” secured by the “Prince George Council of Seniors” went into the construction of the park. It is open to the public 24/7, free to use for any age (minimum age 13 years) and is completely accessible. Much of the equipment is designed in such a way so everyone, no mater what ability level, can participate and get fit. Exercise has been proven to improve abilities and quality of life in humanity, but be sure to check with your primary health care provider before undertaking any exercise program.

CityWorks-Heritage River Trail

Beginning at Carrie Jane Grey Park which is at the junction of 20th avenue and Massey Drive, this scenic nature “Walk-N-Roll” goes approximately 10.5 Kilometers passing behind residential areas, 3 major civic parks and a Wild Bird sanctuary.  Its’ journey runs under Highway 16 West , past the Hudson’s Bay Slough, crossing Queensway Street to head behind Fort George Park in Prince George east along the Fraser River encompassing Prince George’s “Back Yard”.

After that, it continues further up the Fraser River to the confluence of the Nechako River in North Prince George, passing a traditional First Nation’s Burial ground along the way. After the confluence, it follows the Nechako River through Cottonwood Island Park and ends at the new Cameron Street Bridge in Prince George North. Enterprising walkers and heavy duty electric medical mobility devices can continue on a new trail developed on the North side of the Nechako River.

The trail is host to lots of wildlife of all sizes. It is wise to carry noisemaking devices like bells and whistles as most of the predatory wildlife will avoid humans as long as you do not surprise them. The noisemakers can serve a duel purpose.Electric Mobility devices and bikes travel silent and faster than the average walker and serious personal damage can occur if a faster moving device strikes a walker around a blind overgrown corner.Noise will give both parties advance warning and time to avoid “collisions”.

The trail has garbage collection containers in quite a few locations. The city asks that you use them and to “pick up after your pet”. Stool collection bags are available along the trail. The rules of the trails in PG are to keep to the right, have pets on leashes, respect the environment and other trail users. Enjoy your civic trails and have fun on over 113Km in many other outdoor civic trails around Prince George. City Hall has information on all of them, so stop by and explore a side of the city you may be missing!