On Mr Todd’s regular trip to the dairy in Musselburgh Rise, the lip where a ramp on to the footpath in Marlow St meets the road forces him to detour along Tainui Rd in his motorised wheelchair, which has a top speed of about 7kmh.
Shortly after 2pm on Wednesday, after a light rain, while trying to get back on to the footpath, he slid down a steep driveway, his wheel hit the grass and he spilled out of his chair.
Mr Todd struggled on the footpath until two "young lads" heard his call for help and helped him back into his chair.
Mr Todd has antisynthetase syndrome, a rare chronic autoimmune condition that affects the muscles and other parts of the body and has affected his mobility, so that he has largely been using a motorised wheelchair to get around for about the past four years.
He had been ringing the Dunedin City Council to get change the ramp changed from about that time, he said.
At this point, he said, he believed his requests for service were going nowhere - he had been promised action but given "no indication of time".
Dunedin City Council transport group manager Jeanine Benson said learning of Mr Todd’s accident was "distressing" and the council was investigating a temporary solution.
While drop kerb ramps were among the improvements being added over time across Dunedin, they were being installed first on streets that formed part of the council’s strategic pedestrian network.
Council staff had spoken to Mr Todd in the past about his concerns with the Tainui Rd crossing point and planned to meet him again yesterday, she said.
Tainui Rd was "unfortunately not part of the strategic network", but staff would inspect the site to decide on a possible temporary fix.
Mr Todd’s request for improvements meant the site would be included in a future package of other sites outside the strategic network in need of mobility access improvements, Ms Benson said.
Nearby Cavell St was the strategic route in the area and had been upgraded to give a wheelchair-accessible route to the Musselburgh Rise shopping centre.
Related Stories
Comments
It's pretty sad that Mr Todd had to tumble from his wheelchair before the council applied anything more than lip service to his requests for a safer and more accessible footpath. I would prioritise his request well above that of a new section of cycle lane or useless dots painted on the roadway.
Tainui Rd was "unfortunately not part of the strategic network"
But painting polka dots along the main street is?!