The long-awaited mat designed to smooth out the uneven planks along the iconic White Rock pier is officially being installed today.
City council approved the motion last month to spend money for the special mat that would give those with mobility challenges better access to the pier.
Accessibility advocate and educator Susan Bains says she visited the pier Tuesday to check it out and was moved by a wave of emotions.
Earlier, she says she made a point to travel the pier before the mat was installed.
“It was so uncomfortable and as I was going down the length of the pier, it was all these emotions that I was feeling like, ‘this would be the last time that I’m going to have to deal with all these bumps, the pain in my back spasms.’ And just knowing that that’s going to be great for everybody, it was such a gratifying feeling,” said Bains.
She said the ride across the mat was noticeably improved.
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“It’s definitely a smoother ride you could still feel a little bit of the bumps, because it’s never going to 100 per cent go away, but it was a much smoother ride and enjoyable. And I didn’t have to worry — that was the other part. I didn’t have to worry about looking down, because I knew that I wouldn’t get stuck,” said Bains.
She says she started the push for accessibility improvements three years ago. After a ride down the pier in 2021, Bains said she swore not to do it again and petitioned the city for change that August.
The motion to move ahead with an accessibility mat at the pier was unanimously approved at a vote on June 10, despite the council originally saying it would have to wait until 2025.
Coun. Christopher Trevelyan, who was behind the motion, said at the time that the city got a $25,000 grant to move forward with the project, and there was no reason to wait.
“It makes sense to me and, in addition to people in wheelchairs, we have people who use scooters, walkers, strollers, of course,” he told 1130 NewsRadio in June.
“It was a real big push, you know, to get all this support behind us, with the media everybody. It was just great to have everybody behind it and the city to finally realize that this needed to happen,” said Bains.
The mat, which now stretches along the left side of the pier, was estimated to cost roughly $115,000.
Bains said she was with the process all the way to ensure that the City of White Rock knew that the mat was its legal obligation, and not just something “nice to have.”
“This entire ordeal that I had to go through: it was justified today, going down that pier. All those months and months and months of determined
conversations and persistence, it paid off. It was worth the fight,” said Bains.
—With files from Srushti Gangdev and Hana Mae Nassar