Winter Walking and Cycling

[Bob_McBob]

It's particularly interesting how positive all the comments are from people in the pilot area in Kitchener.

[danbrotherston]

It's particularly interesting how positive all the comments are from people in the pilot area in Kitchener.

Yes, that is very good news.

It is however disheartening to see several comments of "sure the pilot area might be good, but they could never do it for the whole city"...what is so hard to believe, they clear the roads.

Of course lots of people claim they never clear their roads either, which simply isn't true, so....who knows.

[MidTowner]

Walking this morning, it's pretty obvious that the City of Kitchener's tweaking to its enforcement of clear sidewalks has not worked. Not because most sidewalks are impassable- most are clear, as of Sunday, even after a significant snowfall. But the few that are not are the same ones that were not earlier this season (and never were, but rather left to the weather to address), and the same ones as last winter and the winter before.

I made the same observation today as I apparently did in mid-January: it is the same property owners, over and over, who neglect to clear their sidewalks. We had significant snowfall last week, and most folks had their sidewalks reasonably cleared through it, and by yesterday most sidewalks had been the cleared.

The ones who didn't, are the same ones who didn't in January, and December, and last winter, and they are the minority who make getting around difficult and dangerous. Whatever actions the City might be taking are not serving as a deterrent.

[KevinL]

They need to identify these problematic landowners and do proactive inspections - the moment they are in violation of the 24-hour window, they get a fresh reminder, and if they are past a given number of reminders they are immediately fined (both a punitive fee and the cost of the city clearing for them, ideally).

[danbrotherston]

They need to identify these problematic landowners and do proactive inspections - the moment they are in violation of the 24-hour window, they get a fresh reminder, and if they are past a given number of reminders they are immediately fined (both a punitive fee and the cost of the city clearing for them, ideally).

Right now they only give one warning, a habitual offender obviously should not get more warnings, further, the risk with giving any warnings is that the walk remains unclear.  24 hours is too long for many priority sidewalks, let alone the 2-5 days an inspection can take, and a further 2-3 days for actual clearing. And that’s all assuming no more snowfall in the 4-8 days it may take to get cleared.

[dtkmelissa]

An older article for sure, but it still covers a lot of valid points. https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/down...sidewalks/

Some of my favourite points include:

"But sidewalk plowing appears to be one of the great bargains of municipal governance."

"Some civic politicians may hope off-loading responsibility for snow removal will help them avoid lawsuits. But a municipality cannot dodge its liability for slips and falls on icy sidewalks simply because it forces homeowners to do the job."

"Beyond the financial or legal issues, however, the attitude of a city toward its sidewalks says a lot about political commitment and public concern."

"There’s no upside to sidewalk shovelling."

[ijmorlan]

An older article for sure, but it still covers a lot of valid points. https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/down...sidewalks/

Excellent article! It reads like it could have been written by any number of people on this board. Unbelievable that such an obvious improvement still hasn’t been made in 9 years.

[Spokes]

Do you think municipal sidewalk clearing comes up again this fall or is the issue dead for a year or two

[danbrotherston]

Do you think municipal sidewalk clearing comes up again this fall or is the issue dead for a year or two

A staff report will be coming to council regarding the pilot. There will be a discussion then, but unless that comes out in the early spring, even if council decided to fund it, I suspect it would be too late to roll out for next winter.

But there may just be a deferral for more information...we will see.

[danbrotherston]

The time we have all been waiting for has come!

The survey is out! https://www.engagewr.ca/full-service-pilot

We totally remember snow right guys.

[creative]

I thought that sidewalk clearing was only going to increase my taxes by $45. The survey indicates that it is going to add $100.

[panamaniac]

Normally, I'd expect them to err on the high side, but $100 could be a bit light, depending on the eventual level of service. I suppose the annual hit could be reduced if it were contracted out to non-union labour ...

[taylortbb]

I thought that sidewalk clearing was only going to increase my taxes by $45. The survey indicates that it is going to add $100.

I believe $45 was based on typical levels of service, basically implementing what residents are already expected to do (cleared up to 24 hours after snowfall). In the pilot area the city went beyond requirements. On my street it always cleared in time to walk to work.

[danbrotherston]

I thought that sidewalk clearing was only going to increase my taxes by $45. The survey indicates that it is going to add $100.

I believe $45 was based on typical levels of service, basically implementing what residents are already expected to do (cleared up to 24 hours after snowfall). In the pilot area the city went beyond requirements. On my street it always cleared in time to walk to work.

Do you have a source for the sidewalks being cleared at a LOS above the standard LOS, or is that only your impression? I don't believe they were achieving a standard higher than the standard LOS applied to all existing city cleared sidewalks.

Of course, this can come down to people's expectations, and the implied messages by councillors.

For homeowners the requirement to clear in 24 hours means that bylaw can only enforce after 24 (but sometimes 72) hours, and take another 72 hours to clear.

For city clearing this means the last sidewalks will be cleared before 24 hours. Most sidewalks are clear much sooner.

As for the amount, I am sure they are managing expectations here, 45 dollars it the amount it was estimated, that could be low, 100 is definitely not "light".

[taylortbb]

I believe $45 was based on typical levels of service, basically implementing what residents are already expected to do (cleared up to 24 hours after snowfall). In the pilot area the city went beyond requirements. On my street it always cleared in time to walk to work.

Do you have a source for the sidewalks being cleared at a LOS above the standard LOS, or is that only your impression? I don't believe they were achieving a standard higher than the standard LOS applied to all existing city cleared sidewalks.

Sorry, should have been more clear, that was just my impression. But it definitely felt like a level of service far beyond what homeowners would do, even if they followed the bylaw perfectly.