The city of Ottawa’s decision to move a Gloucester bus stop is raising accessibility concerns.

26-year-old Kyle Humphrey says a bus stop was located just a few meters from his home until July when a bus detour came into effect. As a result Humphrey's longtime stop was moved about 300 meters down the road.

"I get that they have to close a road to build a new one, I do get that," Humphrey says. "But they are taking away access for so many to use the bus."

Detours on bus routes 134 and 34 came into effect in July as a result of construction and the permanent closure of Pagé Road. The city of Ottawa and OC Transpo removed two stops from Creek Crossing Street as a result of the detours and moved the route to busier areas in the Chapel Hill community.

"The detour routing of Route 134 via Navan Road, Orléans Boulevard and Longleaf Drive, maintains similar travel times and service coverage in the community to minimize the inconvenience of the detour for customers," says Pat Scrimgeour, the Assistant General Manager, Customer Systems and Planning.

"Route 134 was detoured away from Pagé Road and Creek Crossing Street so that existing service can be maintained along Longleaf Drive where the majority of customers reside."

But Humphrey, who suffers from Spina Bifida and uses a wheelchair to get around, says the new stop is about 3 minutes further away. When the snow falls, he says that time could increase to upwards of 30 minutes.

"Unfortunately for me, in the winter it will take me more than an hour to get from my house to the stop just down the street," Humphrey says. " It's taking away my freedom."

Humphrey says he contacted the local councilor about the issue, but was disappointed with the lack of communication.

"I expected him to come to me when the issue first came up to him," Humphrey says.

Councilor Jody Mitic admits he never personally phoned Humphrey about the issue, but says he was advocating on Humphrey's behalf and was instructing his staff to keep Humphrey in the loop. Mitic says he met with top brass at the city on two occasions to discuss the possibility of reversing the changes.

"The changes they did actually increased ridership in certain areas the changes they and the areas they did impact had very few riders to begin with," Mitic says. "When we looked at the changes to try and accommodate what Kyle was experiencing, there was an added cost."

Due to the added cost of reversing the route and the impact on the hundreds of customers who are benefiting from the change, Mitic says it is unlikely Humphrey will get back his stop on Creek Crossing Street.

"It's the way it has to be for now," Mitic says. "We might look at other options in the future."