INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — Like any parent facing a stay-at-home order because of COVID-19, Anna is just trying to find ways to keep her three kids, ages 1, 4 and 6, occupied.
“You can only walk around your neighborhood so many times before it starts to get a little bit boring,” Anna said.
That’s why Anna was looking forward to heading to Eagle Creek this past weekend from her home in Zionsville.
“One of the things that we’ve been promising the kids, while we were stuck inside, is that we were going to be able to go to Eagle Creek and do some walking, some hiking,” Anna explained.
It’s a favorite spot for the family because 4-year-old Abby, who was born with cerebral palsy, can get around there pretty easily too.
“Abby uses a wheelchair and we’re lucky enough that Eagle Creek has some paved areas that we can use for her, but we also have a special wheel that attaches to the front of her wheelchair that allows us to do some hiking,” Anna said.
When she heard that the park was closed to traffic and only open to pedestrians because of social distancing restrictions, though, Anna contacted Indy Parks first on Facebook and then by phone. She was hoping there were parking exceptions for those with physical challenges.
Anna said she talked with a staff member on the phone.
“She told me there were no exceptions,” Anna recalled.
Later, she said she received a Facebook message offering a suggestion.
“I’m completely on board with social distancing, but that can’t come at the cost of other people’s rights,” Anna said.
“One option would be to drive the person to some place, they didn’t really specify, but drive them to the park somehow and drop them off and then go find a parking place,” Anna explained.
Monday afternoon, it appeared many people were doing just that, by parking on the side of the road or across the street from park entrances and walking inside.
“If it’s an elderly person, if it’s a child, it really doesn’t matter who it is, number one, that’s not an entirely safe thing to do,” Anna said.
She thinks Indy Parks should reconsider and make some kind of accommodation for those with special needs.
“Everyone still has a right to access the park and by prohibiting vehicular traffic, by not making some kind of accommodations so that everyone can enter, they’re excluding a group of people,” Anna said.
She believes the park is big enough that there should be some way to figure it out while keeping everyone safe.
“I’m completely on board with social distancing, but that can’t come at the cost of other people’s rights,” Anna added.
13News reached out to Indy Parks about Anna’s concerns.
A spokesperson sent us this statement:
“As Indy Parks restricts all vehicle access into Eagle Creek Park to address overcrowding and excessive traffic, there is no parking available for anyone within the park. Due to the severity of the coronavirus, we are not allowing any traffic access into the park during this time except for pedestrians and cyclists. We are hopeful that the temporary restriction will limit crowds and allow visitors to follow social distancing and CDC guidelines until further notice. “