Construction around McGill University has made the campus virtually inaccessible for students in wheelchairs, says one law student.
Stephanie Chipeur, a doctoral student at McGill Law School, said the steep hills on campus make getting around dangerous at the best of times. But add in the roadwork and she found herself completely unable to access the university’s Brown building for a recent doctor’s appointment.
While construction workers offered to lift her wheelchair, she declined, saying it would not be safe.
It’s not the only time construction work has kept Chipeur from getting around. She said she missed a recent meeting of doctoral students when workers wouldn’t let her adapted vehicle access McTavish St.
“I’d been assured in advance by the building manager that I would be allowed to drive up,” she said.
University spokesperson Angela Campbell acknowledged the school has received a number of complaints, not just from students.
“There are concerns at large,” she said. “There are concerns about noise, concerns about accessibility, so obviously it really is a broad problem.”
City officials said they have not received a single complaint, only a few questions, and they have been in touch with the university on a regular basis.
However, after Chipeur complained, some changes were eventually made but Campbell said the school has been told work in the area won’t be finished for at least another year.
