Snowstorms are hell for wheelchair users -- but they don't have to be

It took over a week for Mia Ives-Rublee, a wheelchair user and senior director of the Center for American Progress's disability justice initiative, to be able to move more than a block past her home after one of the country's most extensive winter storms in years hit her home of Washington, DC, at the end of January. "Living in a city that you know has the resources, and still dealing with these issues, shows just how poorly cities are ready to deal with accessibility issues," Ives-Rublee said. When sidewalks in her area were cleared, she said, the snow was moved into curb cuts, making it practically impossible for people with mobility devices to cross the street. Disabled people are uniquely impacted by climate events, including that system of snowstorms, which impacted more than half the United States. The failure of even some of the best-resourced cities to adequately clear snow so that disabled people with mobility devices can safely get around is both an infrastructure failure and a policy choice, leaving those people stuck in one area and stripping them of their autonomy. "People with a range of disabilities need clean sidewalks for safe mobility, and many in the...

Source: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/winter-storm-snow-mobility-wheelchair-infrastructure/