The Region of Waterloo has ordered the contractor working on the reconstruction of King Street in Preston to install temporary asphalt ramps at a number of curbs in and around Dolph Street after a man in his wheelchair tipped over and fell into the intersection Monday night.
It happened around 6 p.m., bringing two Good Samaritans to the aid of the man who tumbled into the middle of Dolph Street.
Josh Dawson heard the call for help while clearing weeds along the fence at the back of Thrive Tattoo Studios and looked to see the manual wheelchair on its side and a man struggling to get up in the middle of the road.
“Another gentleman pulled over and we helped him get back into his chair and get his shoes on,” Dawson said.
Dawson said the man’s knee looked bruised but he was otherwise uninjured.
“We asked him where he was going and he said he was going up the street for something to eat.” Then he went on his way.
About an hour later, Dawson’s fiance Laura Richelle Bernadette posted to Facebook, calling on the contractor and the region to do better at cleaning up the hazards left over from construction she and others believe has taken far too long.
She included a photo taken at the Dolph Street intersection that shows a drop from the sidewalk to the asphalt and an exposed water pipe in the middle of the road.
“Our town is a hazard and a filthy mess from the unfinished construction,” Bernadette wrote in the post. “Local residents and businesses are unhappy. It has been almost 2 years of closed roads and pedestrian sidewalks, dirt, and water being turned off with less than 24 hours notice. And now people are getting hurt. Finish the work already.”
Talking with CambridgeToday, Bernadette said she's surprised it hasn't happened before since there's an independent living home a few blocks away that houses a number of people with mobility issues.
Soon after the post went up on Facebook, a number of people commented, some saying they have nearly tripped on crutches or tipped their wheelchairs going over the uneven sidewalks and curbs.
Contacted Wednesday, Jason Guan, project manager with the Region of Waterloo, said the nearly two-inch gap between the pavement and the curb was identified as an issue and he had contacted the contractor to fix it.
The final layer of surface asphalt is scheduled to go down by the end of the month and will eliminate the drop, he said.
In the meantime, the contractor was ordered to place temporary asphalt ramps at any curb that needs it.
Guan, who took over the project in February, said the King Street reconstruction is into its third year and will wrap up soon.
He couldn't comment about the original timeline for the project but said he knows some delays were caused by unexpected soil conditions.
Bernadette, who met with the contractor, Navacon Construction, and a rep from the region Wednesday to discuss issues, said she saw the contractor putting down the asphalt ramps Wednesday afternoon.
