A Glasgow woman who is registered blind says that the council's regeneration of Sauchiehall Street has left the layout too "dangerous" for the visually impaired to navigate.
Natalie Curran, 24, says that she doesn't feel that Glasgow City Council took into account the needs of the visually impaired when they redesigned Sauchiehall Street as part of the ambitious Avenue's Project.
She says that the new layout of the roads at the one end of the street is "an accident waiting to happen".
The project, which is aimed to encourage people to walk and cycle more, will see 17 key streets transformed around the city in a bid to make Glasgow more environmentally friendly.
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She told Glasgow Live: "It's really sad because that's a part of the city centre I was normally very comfortable with and it's ruined it for me."
The new layout on the street has allowed for the expansion of footpaths and cycle lanes, but dips between each are very small compared to the usual kerb at the side of road.
Natalie says the area is marred by inconsistent tactile paving, which directly lets a visually impaired person know where the safest place is to cross.
One set of paving has a zebra crossing, while another doesn't.There are also no kerbs demarcating the cycle lanes from the road.
Natalie said: "There is no difference in height between path and road, to make it easier with people who have mobility issues. The problem you have then is that people who can't see or are visually impaired can no longer tell the difference between road and pavement which is obviously quite a serious issue because you're in the city centre and these are busy roads.
"Somebody who is expecting it could anticipate a slight textural difference, but for someone who has a guide dog, they can't pick up on the same textural difference. The dogs are trained to recognise kerbs so if there is no kerb the dog keeps walking and walk its owner out into traffic".
To reach a bus stop on the street also means crossing two cycle lanes without a zebra crossing, which Natalie argues increases the likelihood of a blind person walking onto the road without hearing potential cyclists.
Natalie, who has ended up in hospital after being hit by a cyclist, says this is another major issue.
She explains there is no way of independently navigating to the bus stops from the controlled crossing while using a long cane, without stepping on to either the road or the cycle lane.
Natalie, a white cane user, also runs the risk of hitting a cyclist with her cane.
She added: "You have to be told or know there is a bus stop in the middle of the road, unless you're psychic a visibly impaired person will keep walking on and on.
"It's an accident waiting to happen."
In letters sent to Natalie's mother Sarah from the council in 2020, seen by Glasgow Live , the head of sustainability and technical services, neighbourhoods, regeneration and sustainability Christine Francis agreed that tactile pavement should be widened at the pavements to the same as the opposite side, adding "it is proposed that this should be rectified as soon as possible".
Natalie told us: "My Mum was the one who spotted the issues as I hadn't been there during lockdown. She went up there with me and said 'am I overreacting or is this a problem?' and I said 'no, you're not overreacting, this is a nightmare'."
Despite this suggestion, there appears to be no rectification of the issue.
Laura Walker, the CEO of Visibility Scotland, said that the "visually impaired community is telling us that they don't feel safe on Sauchiehall Street".
She added: "We know mistakes have been made but we must be solution-led and work collaboratively to ensure further mistakes are not made when designing streetscapes.
"Visibility Scotland recognises the importance of ‘feeling safe’ when traveling. The visually impaired community is telling us that they don’t feel safe on Sauchiehall Street."
Laura added that research indicates "all street users ‘value a kerb’ and segregation is key; linear streets make travel easier to navigate and consistency is vital; crossings should be controllable, as this increases the feeling of being ‘safe’; bus stops should be identifiable and when designing a streetscape, the ‘level of amenity’ must be considered to avoid discrimination.
"Visibility Scotland provides a positive voice for the visually impaired community that it represents. The visually impaired community must feel included and not excluded from society."
Natalie explained: "It's an area that I previously felt very safe and comfortable navigating, but I don't feel safe or comfortable at all. It's completely changed.
"I don't feel safe there at all. I'm on heightened alert in case I do accidentally walk on the road. I'm scared to know when the first accident will be reported and it's so preventable and that's so sad.
"The council can still make their eco-friendly places and tackle climate change and do all that kind of stuff without endangering people. There are ways of doing this safely.
"It's not that i'm anti-environmental, I care about the environment like everyone else, but they've made it very scary for people to walk in that area."
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said that the local authority is now "currently reviewing design strategy for the Avenues in response to changes to the Highway Code and the Cycling by Design guidance, and will be discussing options with the Forum."
They noted that Sauchiehall Street was the pilot for the programme.
They said: "The council is convening an Accessible and Inclusive Design Forum to ensure useful, regular and constructive engagement with a wide range of vulnerable user groups on the design of infrastructure such as the Avenues programme.
"The forum’s first meeting will take place in the coming weeks where we will agree the terms of reference with the groups on a collective basis.
"We are currently reviewing design strategy for the Avenues - including for Sauchiehall Avenue - in response to changes to the Highway Code and the Cycling by Design guidance, and will be discussing options with the Forum. A key aim of the Avenues programme is to make the city centre a more attractive place that is easier for everyone to get around."
Find out more about the avenues here.
