‘Lots of obstacles': For residents using mobility aids, accessing Boston's sidewalks a challenge

Boston Globe

a day ago

Beyond curb ramps, Boston's sidewalks are also not easy for everyone to maneuver.
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According to a Globe review of city data, of the roughly 5,700 reports of sidewalk defects made to 311 in 2024, some of which are closed immediately because they are duplicates, more than two-thirds of those requests remained open as of June.
A dozen mobility aid users recently interviewed by the Globe, including Haendel, said they notice every day the lagging progress and the challenges that still remain: cracks and bumps in sidewalks, missing bricks, and uneven, narrow pathways.
For wheelchair users, these issues can mean traveling in the street, which leads to
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'People sometimes wonder why people in wheelchairs are riding on the street; they say they shouldn't be on the street. And [broken sidewalks] are often the reason — because you can't [ride]
on the sidewalks. At all,' said Carol Steinberg, who lives in Jamaica Plain and uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis.
Kristen McCosh, disability commissioner and ADA Title II coordinator
for Boston, said the city is 'extremely committed' to fulfilling its goal of making all street intersections accessible by 2030. In previous years, the city ran into issues such as staff shortages and delays because of bad weather during Boston's construction season, which runs from
'I completely understand the frustration that residents and visitors to the city feel, and it's hard to convey the fact that we are working on these issues,' McCosh said.
Accessibility advocates got so fed up that they
But since then, Boston has on average renovated 1,310 curb cuts per year. It installed 1,586 ramps in 2022, followed by 1,025 in 2023 and 1,321 in 2024.
The 2021
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Julia Campbell, Boston's
deputy chief of streets, said keeping up with the status of 311 requests is a 'challenge,' and while her team tries to close them out when defects are repaired, they may 'miss some here and there.'
According to the city, it has an estimated sidewalk
A few months before
the 2018 lawsuit, a city
In response, Boston launched in 2018 the StreetCaster program, which was designed to make sidewalk repairs
Many neighborhoods have old, narrow brick pathways, and regular
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Out of its 1,600 miles of sidewalks, over 16 miles were repaired or reconstructed in 2024, said Chris Coakley, a city of Boston spokesperson. In 2025, the city is executing six sidewalk repair contracts and intends to surpass the 2024 figure 'pending any inclement weather or unforeseen construction delays,' Coakley said.
Chris Hoeh often has to travel on the roads when the sidewalks are blocked or unable to be accessed.
Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff
Michael Muehe, former Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator for the City of Cambridge and a wheelchair user, said most people who use mobility devices will have different experiences with Boston's sidewalks depending on what mobility tool they use.
'What most of us have in common is that there are lots of obstacles that come up just trying to navigate where you're trying to go in the city, whether it's going up to the corner store or a few blocks away to a restaurant or doctor's office,' said Muehe, the lead plaintiff in the 2018 lawsuit.
McCosh said the Disabilities Commission works closely with Public Works to mitigate future sidewalk breakage once repairs are made. For example, the city is considering using pervious pavers — concrete bricks designed to allow rainwater to pass through them — around trees so roots don't grow upward and break the sidewalks.
Casandra Xavier, a disability advocate who lives in the North End and is deaf-blind, said she notices sidewalks in poor condition 'every day.' Often, her white cane, a mobility aid used by people who are visually impaired, will get stuck in the cracks or holes in the sidewalk and sometimes break. A broken tip leaves the cane unusable, meaning Xavier always carries an extra cane and cane tips on her so she doesn't become stranded.
To avoid breakage, Xavier prefers to use her cane in a method called constant contact, where the user swipes the cane left to right without lifting it off the ground. But she's had to switch to using the two-point touch method because of the sidewalks, which means the cane is lifted off the ground between taps.
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'That gives less tactile feedback on the ground, which then causes room for more accidents,' Xavier said.
Casandra Xavier is visually impaired and uses a cane when walking. She said the poor condition of the city's sidewalks, including cobblestone, brick, and granite, make it difficult for people with disabilities to navigate.
Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Most people who spoke to the Globe noted that sidewalk conditions differ in each neighborhood. Niki Kuchipudi, a wheelchair user who lives in Allston, said the sidewalks in her area are generally accessible, but she avoids traveling downtown or to the North End because of the many historic cobblestone streets in those areas.
After the 2018 study showed inequality in sidewalk conditions across the city, Boston
Advocates said the issue boils down to people being able to live autonomously.
'There are some places where I can't even get my power chair over the way the sidewalk is,' Chris Hoeh, a wheelchair user, said. 'You should be able to move around the city independently.'
Emily Spatz can be reached at