Walking in Waterloo Region

[ookpik]

Forget your snowblower and start shovelling, or face $300-plus bill in Kitchener

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5337...kitchener/

In short:  City is fining people who use snowblowers because it leaves 1 cm of snow above the concrete.

The article includes this explanation:

Kitchener says the standard is straightforward: "Clear of ice and snow" means down to the pavement. "We do appreciate that it's a challenge, but it's the only standard we can go with," said Shayne Turner, Kitchener's director of bylaw enforcement.

"It's one thing for me to be able to walk on packed snow, but someone in a wheelchair can't get down the sidewalk if there's snow."

All very reasonable. But here's the rub. The Kitchener part of the Iron Horse Trail is owned and maintained by the city of Kitchener. That includes the responsibility to clear snow in the winter, presumably to at least the same standards the city expects from ratepayers. 

Yet here we are, days since the last significant snow fall, and large sections of the IHT are still covered with hard-packed snow. Other sections have now turned into ice, which is even more dangerous. 

Where are Mr Turner and his diligent bylaw police?

(Same comment applies to Waterloo, assuming their bylaw and their enforcement thereof are at a similarly high standard.)