Blog

The Path to Sugar Beach

Settle in folks, this one’s a bit long….

We have a large amount of waterfront here in Toronto, nestled as we are along the shores of Lake Ontario. For a very long time, there’s been talk of revitalizing the waterfront and not too long ago, the three levels of government (municipal, provincial and federal) got together and threw money at it. This means that all kinds of really interesting multiuse projects are being planned and built along the waterfront.

Christopher Hume who writes about urban issues and architecture for The Toronto Star has been writing enthusiastically about it in a way that has helped to generate a lot of excitement and there’s a video on the Star’s website where he interviews the developer and a landscape architect about the vision of Sugar Beach, one of the projects in the revitalization project. The vision includes that projects should “make people feel welcome.” This philosophy is also emphasized on the waterfront website which includes quotes such as “the public is an integral, valued part of the planning and design process,” “ensure that the entire waterfront is accessible to the public” and “creating vital and inclusive waterfront neighbourhoods.”

Why am I writing about this? The new Sugar Beach mentioned in the video is an urban beach located in my neck of the woods. It opened last August, but since I was in a world of pain at the time, I haven’t had a chance to see it yet. Last week, spring sprung a bit (as opposed to today where it’s -11C and snowing) and I grabbed my camera to go check out the beach and take pictures of the water. Today’s post is a tour of the path to Sugar Beach. How accessible is it?

We’ll start at the north corner of Front and Jarvis Sts (map of the route is here) and move south on Jarvis. Curb cuts are wide and almost level to the street, making them easy for wheelchairs to navigate not just for power chairs, but for those who use manual chairs, as well. The sidewalk is wide and fairly level, making for pretty much as comfortable ride as one can get (click pics to embiggen).
Down by Jarvis and The Esplanade, the curb cuts are also comfortable, especially on the east side of the street. On the southwest corner, irregular asphalt created by the beginnings of a pothole make the route a bit difficult, but most people use the east side anyway. The sidewalk is still fairly comfortable, although the scaffolding around Crombie Park narrows the path, but it’s doable.
On the way, I can’t help but notice the big step from the sidewalk to the path along the storefronts and the gray-on-gray tone. That’s a major tripping hazard for people coming out of the stores that I wonder why the edge of the step has not been painted yellow to warn people who are visually impaired, as well as the able-bodied public that there is a change in level.

Moving down the sidewalk under the bridge, we come to the first curb cut along Lakeshore Boulevard. There are four to navigate to fully cross this major artery and they’re not as comfortable or as new as the Jarvis/front and Jarvis/the Esplanade intersections. My power chair can do it, but someone in a manual chair might have trouble. And then we come to the fourth in the series (bottom right photo) on the south-east and south-west side of lower Jarvis, where we come upon brand-new curb cuts. I expect much of brand-new curb cuts – my experience is that they, as the ones at Front Street, tend to be almost completely level with the street with a low grade from street to sidewalk, making it easy and comfortable to get from the street to sidewalk when you’re in a wheelchair. Not so much here. The cut in the curb has a significant bump to get onto the street and this grade of the cut itself is quite steep. Going down from sidewalk to street is especially nerve-racking, even in my power chair and I don’t want to think about what it would be like if you’re in a manual chair – I’m not sure it would be possible to get up to the sidewalk without tipping back on the rear wheels. This is something that many people with disabilities cannot do, but it’s yet another example of how accessibility standards seem to assume that people who use wheelchairs are just like an able-bodied people, but sitting down. Oh, and I’d also like to thank the dog owner who let their pooch have a poop right in the middle of the curb cut.

As I move down the East sidewalk of Lower Jarvis, I notice a rather alarming state of disrepair between sidewalk and the area next to it and wonder how many people have tripped off the sidewalk into that. It also makes me nervous thinking about what would happen if one of my wheels should accidentally go out to the edge of the sidewalk.

Nevermind, I’m almost there, can see parts of Sugar Beach and am getting excited. I haven’t been close to the lake since last summer and you know how I feel about water. I get to the northeast corner and am not too thrilled with the curb cut, so cross the street – both sides onlu marginally qualifying as curb cuts – and discover an even worse curb cut, one that I dare not try.

Nevermind again, I plan to retrace my steps (east side curb cut not being very conducive to get up on the sidewalk), go back to the light by Lakeshore Boulevard, cross the street and go down the East sidewalk. Before I get going, I look across to the sidewalk on the other side of Queens Quay Boulevard and blink. Then I look again, dumbfounded, look to the left to where the light at the crossing from the East sidewalk leads and blink some more.

East

West

And then I decide to investigate a little further, crossing the street to the East, and get up on the sidewalk (neither of these curb cuts are very comfortable or accessible) and go down the sidewalk a little until I’m opposite the path into Sugar Beach.

Surely this can’t be it? This new and wonderful area has this as an entrance? No paved area, no concern for grade – that entrance used to be to a parking lot, is not made for chairs and you have to risk life and limb traveling along a busy road to get to it – and the dirt/gravel between the sidewalk and Sugar Beach itself is not easily traveled by wheels.

As I stood there, on the north sidewalk of Queen’s Quay Boulevard, I could feel the sting of tears in my eyes. This beach is part of the waterfront revitalization, it’s a brand-new development, one that has received rave reviews and it did not occur to me that something so wonderful and so new would not include considerations of accessibility for people with disabilities. Let me rephrase that: Sugar Beach itself may be accessible to members of the public who have disabilities – obviously, I couldn’t get there to assess it or, as I’d intended, enjoy it. However, if the path to Sugar Beach is not, we are not welcome. And for that to happen, for that level of purposeful exclusion to occur in this day and age was a shock so profound I felt as if I’d been slapped. Some may say that it’s a goof, a mistake, an oversight, but we’re back to $1.5 billion of seed money to the revitalization from three levels of government, years worth of consultation and planning and brilliant design resulting in a project that has no wheelchair access. It is inexcusable.

I will be writing a letter to Mr. Hume, inviting him to check out this particular part of the waterfront revitalization from the seated point of view. Should this result in better access, I’ll take you on a trip to Sugar Beach at a later date.

8 Comments

  1. AlisonH on March 23, 2011 at 5:51 pm

    WOW. Hard to imagine they didn't imagine. Go tell it on the mountain to let my people go there!



  2. Crafty Cripple on March 23, 2011 at 11:10 pm

    This sort of thing leaves me feeling a mixture of despair, disappointment and rage. Why in this day and age are these emotions so common in the lives of the seated. It is disgusting, there is no other word. Why is it always so difficult to gain access to the water? It's the same in every country and I miss getting my toes wet.



  3. Diana on March 24, 2011 at 1:54 am

    What a horrible disappointment!



  4. Diane on March 25, 2011 at 3:37 am

    As you have moved mountains before, I imagine that they will pay attention.  I haven't been to a Lake Ontario public area in a while.  Why you ask?  One public beach is in a State Park over 1/2 hour drive and you have to pay to get in.  The other access is a bit closer, but due to traffic, still 1/2 hr. away, parking is very limited and the beach is often closed.  Next beach is on the other side of the river, again, limited parking and often closed.  I really think that it's shameful, in a county that borders Lake Ontario, that there is so little public access to the Lake.  

    Luckily, I have a friend who just rented a house right on the lake, so can go visit her to enjoy this wonderful natural resource.



  5. Anonymous on March 26, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    FYI, I was down at Sugar Beach this morning and the entrance to the beach you mentioned is really not fully operational yet – I assume that's why they have those concrete barriers blocking the entrance.  If you go about 50 yards further to the east on Queen's Quay Blvd. turn right (south) on Dockside Drive and this will bring you right between the Corus building (several radio stations at the ground floor windows) and Sugar Beach.

    Give it another try!!!!  My wife and I went down there constantly last summer.  Sitting on the Muskoka chairs in the early morning, looking out on the islands…. I often joking refered to S Beach as “our cottage”.   You can also go down the Waterfront Promenade / boardwalk and see Sherbourne Common and get an idea what the east part of the downtown waterfront will look like in the coming years!



  6. Anonymous on March 26, 2011 at 2:35 pm

    Folks, I hadn't read the other posts before I made my post (about the alt. entrance) but on browsing them I think some of you are being overly sensitive in this particular case.  I'm not “seated” (I've never heard that term before) but I think it's worth giving S Beach a try.  The premise of the complaints is that S Beach is not  accessible but I think that may be incorrect.

    I'd be interested in the orig poster's point of view after he goes down there again.  This seems to be an interesting forum.  I hope threads don't degenerate into “slagfests” like a lot of the online forums.  I have no interests in taking shots at anyone but we really love S Beach and the nearby area that's developing down there – hate to see people avoid it for any reason.

    Mike



  7. Kali Woodbridge on March 30, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    When you get can't there from here, even though walkies assure you it is possible, I swear I want to hogtie them to a manual chair so they can show me. Please show me the signs,the large maps of the area that point out such features like rest rooms, alternate pathways, crosswalks, and parking facilities.   
    Having assisted me in getting there from here, I will turn, apologize, and thank you profusely as I untie you from your seat.



  8. Anonymous on March 31, 2011 at 12:33 am

    You don't need to “hogtie me to a manual chair” to get me to show you how to get into Sugar Beach.  Just go to my orig post (fourth from top) – 50 yards east of the eventual main Queen's Quay entrance and then turn right (south)!