Traversing throughout downtown Main Street is no easy task for Newmarket resident Steve Foglia.
The head of Newmarket’s accessibility advisory committee, who uses a wheelchair, would like to patronize more retailers in the heart of Newmarket, but many stores are barred to him, with steps or slopes making it impossible for his power wheelchair to enter.
“Even just one step will prevent someone like me from entering an establishment and doing business,” he said. “It’s not fair.”
Newmarket’s accessibility committee is once again urging Main Street businesses to consider making the street more accessible. After the committee did accessibility audits for about a dozen businesses in its last term, it hopes to spur them to take advantage of grant funding to create accessible entrances.
Improving accessibility is about allowing everyone to access stores independently, without having to think about it, Foglia said.
“It becomes a benefit to me, as a consumer, and also a benefit to the business owner,” Foglia said. “We are quite the buying force, and right now it’s not being utilized. It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Newmarket Main Street BIA chair Tom Hempen said the organization is invested in improving accessibility, and many members participated in accessibility audits.
“We want to make Main Street very inclusive, for everyone to come down there,” Hempen said. “We’re happy to work with the accessibility committee.”
The committee is pushing businesses to pursue the federal Enabling Accessibility Fund. Under the small projects component, businesses can get up to $100,000 for projects like building ramps and installing accessible doors. The committee is awaiting a new intake period for the small projects component, but last year’s intake ran from Sept. 7 to Nov. 1.
The municipality has applied for the fund to improve outdoor washrooms and said it will continue to pursue these grants.
The town also has its own accessibility enhancement program to help facilitate downtown accessibility, a matching grant of up to 50 per cent of eligible costs up to $5,000.
“We have made some positive progress, and we know there is much more to be done as we work together to continue to build a more inclusive and equitable community for everyone,” Newmarket Mayor John Taylor.
Another challenge on Main Street is sidewalk grading, Foglia said. With the grading well below many storefronts, he said a sidewalk overhaul may be needed for accessibility improvements.
“The best option is to adjust the grading on Main Street. The sidewalks are quite old and probably due for a redo at some point,” Foglia said.
Many parts of Newmarket are accessible, Foglia said. But he added that making the downtown fully accessible could bring positive attention to the town.
“It would draw in more tourism,” Foglia said. “It would be a benchmark for all of Ontario. You would have every news agency come here to see what we’ve done.”
