It's been a tough winter in Gatineau for people with reduced mobility

Normally, it would only take Yucca Leonard about 15 minutes to get his two-year-old daughter to a nearby rehabilitation centre for her cerebral palsy therapy.

This year, all the snow and ice coating theroads and sidewalks in Gatineau's Hull district is making that trip nearly impossible.

"In terms of snow removal, this is one of the worst cities I've seen," said Leonard, who normally walks to the centre and pushes his daughter in her stroller.

"The sidewalks are not cleared. The streets are disastrous, even in downtown Hull."

Record snowfall

This winter's heavy snowfall has made travel extremely difficult for pedestrians, wheelchair-users, andothers with limited mobility.

The Ottawa-Gatineau region has receiveda record amount of snow, in fact. In January alone, 97 centimetres' worth fell in Ottawa, making it the city's snowiest ever start to the year.

In Gatineau, 42 centimetres fell duringlast week's snowstorm.

• The great Wednesday snowstorm cleanup begins

"Getting around is almost impossible," said JolBellehumeur, a wheelchair-user and the vice-president of Entre Deux Roues, an activity centre forpeople with reduced mobility.

"The sidewalks are very badly cleared."

Ideas from other cities?

In a French-language statement sentMonday, the City of Gatineau said that it was facing "great challenges" clearing sidewalks this year, and it would still take a few days to complete the work.

Residents can call 311 to report any uncleared streets or sidewalks, the city said.

While he acknowledged the scale of that challenge, Leonard said snow-clearing efforts don't seem to go far enough, with sidewalks still difficult to traverse more than two weeks after large snowfalls.

Gatineaushould be taking inspiration from other Quebec municipalitieswhen it comes to snow removal, Leonard said.

For instance, In Quebec City, Montreal andTerrebonne, Que., flashing light systems are activated across the city when a snow removal operation is underway.

The City ofGatineau, in contrast, installs signs on snow banks to warn residents to park their cars elsewhere until snow clearing operations are completed, a method that Leonard said seems ineffective.

"Here, it's been four or five days [since the signs were installed], and there's nothing that's been done," he said this past weekend in an interview with Radio-Canada.

MoniqueBeaudoin, director of the Association of People with Disabilities in theOutaouais(RAPHO), agrees that getting around the city has been a challenge this winter.

"It's difficult," she said. "Walking in our local streets is very difficult."

A 'daily problem'

Francine St-Jean, the director ofEntreDeuxRoues, said it takes less than 10centimetresof snow to prevent a wheelchair from moving forward.

That, she said, makestransportation a "daily problem" for the centre's clients.

Paratransitis an available option, but not everyone is eligible for the service. Users often have to plan a trip before noon the previous day, St-Jean said, in addition to making sure their destination is wheelchair-accessible.

At least one ofGatineau'scitycouncillorshas calledfor a committee to re-examine the city's snow removal policies.

• Gatineau needs special snow-clearing committee, councillor urges

For Leonard, it's simple there are gaps in the city's snow-clearing processes that desperately need to be filled.

"We pay a lot of taxes," Leonard said. "We are entitled, as citizens, to demand equivalent services."