On a recent chilly afternoon, I met disability activist Deb Ellstrom by the Federal Courthouse for a stroll down the recently redesigned and partially completed Main Street.

We started our jaunt down the newly paved sidewalks at the corner of Main Street and Myrtle Street, and we were quickly confronted with what would be a daring obstacle for someone who uses a wheelchair. Behind the courthouse, one panel of sidewalk — a roughly four-foot length — remained unpaved. Two flimsy plywood served as ad-hoc ramps into the gravel pit, about a four- to six-inch drop from the pavement around it. According to Ellstrom, that pit has been there since the summer, despite complaints to the city and to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which is ultimately responsible.

“I’ve had to have people physically pull me backward out of that mess,” she said.

She frequently travels — Ellstrom calls it “pushing” — from Main Street down Myrtle Street to the Worcester Public Library. The unpaved piece of sidewalk, something that is seemingly innocuous to the able-bodied, presents Ellstrom with a major challenge. She faces getting stuck or pushing in the street, where she risks being hit by a car.

Across Main Street, outside Addie Lee’s Soul Food, a similar and more longstanding problem exists. There, a pole for a pedestrian crossing button was installed in such a way that anyone pushing a stroller or traveling by wheelchair cannot get around it to go up the sidewalk lining Austin Street. It has the effect of forcing disabled people out on the street briefly.

“Somebody is going to get hit,” Ellstrom said.

Both problems require relatively easy fixes, as far as construction projects go. Move a pole a few inches or fill in a missing stretch of sidewalk. But each are layered in such levels of bureaucratic red tape that simple fixes can take months, if they happen at all; state government, city government, contractors and subcontractors, all with a case to be made as to who is to blame and who should pay for it.

“If you find the right person, you get the right leverage,” said Ellstrom. “But you've got to find the right people. You've got to find the right leverage."

We took the stroll not because there are glaring errors in terms of wheelchair access, but to show that even with one of the most high-profile and expensive sidewalk redesigns in recent memory, issues can still persist for those who use wheelchairs, or are blind, or walk with the assistance of a cane or stroller. Some of the issues are the consequence of construction, or shoddy subcontract work, or lack of oversight, but they often go unfixed for months, even years, as other parts of the project take priority. Those who are disabled — like Ellstrom herself, who uses a wheelchair — are left to navigate sidewalks, curb cuts and pedestrian crossings that are ill-suited and even physically dangerous for the disabled.

For decades, Ellstrom has been one of the most tireless advocates for the disabled in Worcester, going way back to 1976, when she started as a personal care attendant at Worcester Transitional Housing. In her time here, she acknowledges the city has gotten drastically better at considering and dealing with issues related to disability. Now, city government has dedicated people such as Jayna Turechek and Joe Prochilo and has made major gains in improving pedestrian access. But Main Street, which is at least halfway through an $11 million redesign, serves to prove a point. Even in the newest sidewalk construction, advocates for the disabled must remain vigilant.

About 20 minutes into our walk, an intersection on Main Street across from Mechanics Hall served the point. Ellstrom pushed up to the intersection, praising it for the way it allowed people to cross Main Street on both sides of Walnut Street. But when she went to push the pedestrian crossing button on the south side of Walnut Street, she couldn’t reach. Her wheelchair wheel was against a roughly six-inch curb. The button, up on a pole, on an elevated piece of pavement behind the curb cut, was still about a foot out of her reach. If she wanted to cross the street safely, she’d have to wait for someone else to come push the button for her. The fix is relatively easy — just extend the button out a foot or so — and Ellstrom has already filed a complaint. But, now, it remains to be seen how long it will take for the issue to be resolved.

“This is brand new. This didn’t exist at all six months ago. Somebody didn’t stop and think,” she said.