COLLINS: Parking woes in the Lansdowne Street parkade
WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG to fix the elevator in the Lansdowne Street parkade? If you Google the parkade, it is listed as being ‘accessible’. However, given that the elevator has been out of service for over three weeks now, not to mention the times it was out of order during the winter months, parking anywhere above the first floor is a nightmare for those with accessibility needs. Because the first three levels of the parkade are reserved stalls, the first floor daily parkers can actually use is Level 4. I don’t know about you, but I would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would be able to safely roll themselves up four parkade ramps in a manual wheelchair to get to their vehicle.
The City of Kamloops has a handy app where you can log a report, presumably so someone will come and at least take a look at it. But once you log your report, you get a message back that says, “Referred to Department.” That’s it. There’s no timeline, there are no options, no details, no confirmation that anyone is actually going to look into the problem.
How long does an elevator need to be out of service before someone will actually come and fix it? If they are waiting for parts, that’s one thing, but then at least put up some signage letting your clients know that you’re aware of the issue and are working to resolve it.
Elevator issues aside, pay parking is in effect until 6:00 p.m. At that time, the doors to the stairwells and elevator are locked for the day. That is all fine and good, except that those doors are being locked earlier and earlier, sometimes as early as 5:30 p.m. For people who are working and rely on that elevator for accessibility or for folks would rather walk up the stairs than have to walk against traffic up the ramps to get to their vehicles, it would be great customer service if the doors were actually left unlocked until closing time.
