A local resident is asking for more accessible parking options to get to the pedestrian mall in Downtown St. John’s.

Matt Idnurm uses a cane to get around. He says while walking he suffers from constant pain in the hips and back, and he tires very easily.

He says last year he was down on Water Street “almost every day,” and really enjoyed the pedestrian mall.

This year, there are numerous accessible parking areas designated for the mall, but according to Idnurm none of them provide what he needs because he “cannot walk that far.”

He says there were accommodations last year that suited his needs. The city has tripled the number of accessible parking spaces this year.

He says that there were three accessible spaces in the Job’s Cove area, one of which was just beyond the barricade on the street. However, this year he can’t walk from the parking garages because they’re too far, and he can’t walk up or down hills.

Idnurm stresses that he isn’t knocking the city, as he thinks they’ve done a great job with the mall, noting that once he’s on the street there are lots of places to sit down and rest.

However, he does want to see some of the accessible parking spaces reinstated so he can better access it.