Wheelchair use difficult on Portlaoise footpath

Wheelchair users in Portlaoise are caught between grazing their bodies off a stone wall, getting around overgrown hedge and staying upright on a slope, all on a single stretch of footpath.

A Portlaoise Municipal District councillor got into a wheelchair for the recent May Way Day to highlight disability access.

Cllr Barry Walsh says the experience of getting a "wheelchair view" of Portlaoise was "a real eye opener".

He has now tabled a motion to the district requesting that a footpath be repaired and replaced.

The path in question runs from the Dublin road roundabout outside St Peter & Paul's Church, down to the memorial park towards Portlaoise Leisure Centre.

"This one particular bend was highlighted to me. The gradient of the path is steep. The wheel is going tight against the wall but people are grazing their arms off the stone wall. The hedges need to be cut. It was a real eye-opener.

"Newer footpaths are no issue," Cllr Walsh said.

He has sent a report highlighting every area that wheelchair users pointed out to him, during the course of a tour by wheelchair around Portlaoise.

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Cllr Willie Aird supported the motion.

"I support what you did 100%. Problem areas they should be our priority," he said.

In reply to Cllr Walsh's motion, Portlaoise Municipal district engineer Wes Wilkinson said he will meet him on site to examine what works are required.

Make Way Day is an annual public awareness event to highlight the needs of people with disabilities in public spaces, most recently held on September 30, supported in Laois by Laois County Council.