Wheelchair users say Cache Valley has plenty of room for improvement
Cache Valley has plenty of room for improvement in handicap accessibility, according to a number of wheelchair users who live in the valley.
Although most wheelchair users acknowledged things have improved in the last few years, they pointed to housing, parking and accessibility in general as areas that still need some work.
“Cache Valley sidewalks leave a lot to be desired. There aren’t nearly enough curb cutouts [sidewalk ramps] around public places. Also, the streets are too rough for wheelchairs to safely cross in a timely manner,” said Casey Kirkland, a junior at Utah State University who uses a wheelchair.
According to Laurie Tanner, director of Administrative Services for the city of Logan, the city is aware that not every street corner has a curb cutout, and they are working on putting in new ones every year.
Kevin Croshaw, chief building officer for the city of Logan said renovating old buildings to be handicap accessible is sometimes cost-prohibitive, especially for small businesses.
“New construction is better,” Croshaw said. “The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 allows for very few exceptions. But sometimes we get people who want to renovate to comply with the ADA, and when they find out how restrictive the law is, they throw their hands up.”
Helen Roth, the director of Options for Independence, an organization in Logan that works on a variety of issues affecting disabled people, said the general response of business owners in the valley has been positive.
“We try not to be confrontational, but rather to work with business owners,” Roth said. “No business owners are forced to go broke to comply with the ADA. We try to make them aware of issues like aisle width. For example, stores like ZCMI and Fred Meyer try to keep aisles open, but around Christmas, they fill up aisles with more displays, and that can make access difficult.”
Housing that is handicap accessible can be hard to come by in the valley.
April Winters, a wheelchair user who got her bachelor’s degree in horticulture from USU in 1998, said she was unable to find adequate housing in Logan.
“As far as living conditions, Logan is behind the times,” Winter said. “We could not find anyplace to live that was accessible. We ended up moving on campus.”
However, Kent Watson, executive director of the Housing Authority in Logan, said the authority just received a $1.6 million grant for its rental assistance program, which provides rental subsidies up to 100 percent for disabled citizens.
Watson said the Housing Authority is working on a comprehensive inventory of handicap accessible units in Cache Valley.
Information on the rental assistance program is available at the Disability Resource Center on the USU campus.