The Finch West LRT has been open for several months now, but accessibility advocates say they’re frustrated with Metrolinx over the installation of a massive ramp and the omission of an elevator to connect Lines 1 and 6 directly. “We call this the stupidest ramp in the world because it requires people with disabilities to push their wheelchair up a ramp that’s longer than a 747 jumbo jet,” David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee and host of the Disability Rights and Wrongs: The David Lepodcast podcast, said. Lepofsky, who is blind, recently visited the sole direct indoor connection between the TTC Finch West subway station and the Line 6 Finch West station.
In a video posted on Monday that has since garnered around 12,000 views, he showed the options riders must use to transfer between the lines: A set of stairs with 23 steps or a three-level ramp that totals approximately 260 feet. In an interview, he said the ramp doesn’t have the optimal turning radius people with power wheelchairs and scooters need to make the turns without awkward manoeuvres. Lepofsky also said it’s an unusual way for people to go up or down a floor inside a building.
“It’s not that they didn’t know you need an elevator because they have elevators to get from the Line 1 platform to the street, an elevator to get from the Line 6 platform to the street,” he told CityNews. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they needed an elevator here. They chose not to do it, and they owe us people with disabilities and the public an explanation as to why.” Related: ‘Get it fixed, get it done:’ TTC riders raise Eglinton Crosstown accessibility issues CityNews met Darren Parberry, an accessibility advocate and host of the YouTube channel Transit History by Mobility Scooter, at Finch West station to follow him as he attempted to navigate the massive ramp for the first time.
I don’t know whether I can do it or not,” Parberry said after seeing it in person. As he went down the ramp, he had to stop at each ramp landing to reverse and accelerate at least once to navigate the turns. Parberry pointed out that small benches installed at each ramp landing created obstructions.
“Someone dropped the ball plain and simple,” he said after reaching the end, calling it frustrating. “It’s beyond stupidity… It’s bordering on arrogance.” Par…
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