Accessibility icons across Squamish might be getting a more action-packed facelift, with a redesign that gives the blue and white wheelchair figure some more direction.
Local resident Paulo Arreaga contacted multiple districts in B.C. to provide the information on a campaign to redesign the symbol.
The old accessible symbol is blue and white, featuring a static-looking figure sitting down in a wheelchair with arms outstretched.
The new proposed symbol, which began as a guerilla design project in Boston, also features a figure in a wheelchair. The difference is that the figure is clearly in motion, pushing themselves to a destination.
Arreaga’s eldest daughter, four-year-old Maya, uses a walker to get around.
He said he first saw the sign years ago in a Starbucks in Chilliwack.
“It just really made me think of how motivating my daughter is,” he said. “She’s way more than her walker, the things she does and the things she wants to do. She looks past her own disability, and I’m looking for anything to help other people do the same.”
The design project has turned into a global campaign.
Arreaga admits the new symbol isn’t perfect – many people use accessible parking, not just those in wheelchairs, and not everyone is able to self-propel themselves like the figure in the picture.
The symbol has been adopted in Nanaimo and is used at Vancouver Island University, but Squamish would be one of the first municipalities in B.C. to officially adopt the symbol.
Squamish director of engineering Chris Wyckham gave councillors information on the short-term plan to roll out the symbols on district property and future possibilities for the rest of the district.
Wyckham said with council support, the district will be able to immediately replace the accessibility signs on public property, most of which are located downtown. There was broad support for the initiative at council.
**Please note, this story has been corrected since it was first published to reflect that Maya is four years old, not eight as previously stated.
