The Athens City Commission on Disabilities hosted its 7th annual Walk, Talk, and Roll in front of the Athens County Courthouse on Friday.
The event was designed to highlight areas of inaccessibility in Athens. The Commission on Disabilities has been fighting to replace the bricks at high-traffic pedestrian crosswalks since 2022. Wheelchairs struggle to cross such crosswalks, and the bricks do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
“There's obvious issues with so many of the bricks, especially on the crosswalks,” Davey McNelly, the chair of the Commission on Disabilities, said. “This is now the fourth year in a row we've done it uptown, and not a lot has changed during that time.”
McNelly said the commission continues to host the event because the issue has not been resolved, with much to be addressed, mainly because it affects the safety of the people who use wheelchairs.
The event also featured a petition sent to lawmakers to preserve Medicaid, a sheet for attendees to note inaccessible areas of the city, free pizza, an opportunity for people to talk to commission members and a challenge for passersby to cross the pedestrian crosswalk at the intersection of Court and Mill Streets in a wheelchair.
Megan Bee, an Athens resident for 16 years, attempted the challenge, which was more frustrating and harder than she expected.
“I knew it was bad, but I think it's way worse than I imagined being in the position to actually have to try to do it on my own,” Bee said. “We have a great city that comes to be very welcoming and open to all, but problems like this make it completely inaccessible to all.”
Those in attendance also took part in chants to express their concerns.
“What do we want? Access. When do we want it? Now,” attendees chanted. “Rain, rain, go away. We want access today.”
Michelle Hahn, a member of the Commission on Disabilities who was in attendance, said because of the condition of the bricks and how large the Athens disabled community is, the city is losing out on money spent Uptown by people with disabilities.
“(The Athens disabled community) has a 3% market stake that the city is not taking advantage of,” Hahn said. “They could certainly increase a lot of their property taxes because more people would be here and spending money.”
It is crucial to talk about disabilities and their effects. Hahn said anyone can become disabled at any time.
“It's not something that people should be scared of talking about or be embarrassed to talk about,” Hahn said. “I think it's important to sort of normalize talking about it very openly and actively and helping people get to that.”
The event brought out a lot of people in previous years. Diana Bouvier, a member of the Commission on Disabilities and vice chair who was in attendance, said those in attendance get a chance to shift their everyday focus.
“It's given people a chance to sort of shift their everyday focus and think about what it might be like to live in Athens if you had a disability,” Bouvier said. “It seems like a really helpful event for doing that and drawing attention.”
Those affected by the poor condition of the bricks go beyond wheelchair users. Bouvier said they affect those with canes, pushing strollers and in high heels.
“The bricks themselves are over 100 years old, and they're broken,” Bouvier said. “It's something that is very hard to maintain because bricks shift over time, or if cars drive over them. They break, so we've been advocating that there is stamped concrete in all uptown crosswalk areas.”
Bouvier said she hopes the event will increase awareness of these issues and of what accessibility is.
“(I hope) there's increased awareness for people to talk to city council members and the city staff when they see an issue,” Bouvier said. “I'm hoping it just raises awareness, so people will be activated to make change.”
