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+--- Forum: Transportation and Infrastructure (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=25)
+--- Thread: Winter Walking and Cycling (/showthread.php?tid=654)
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - creative - 02-01-2019
Municipal Snow Cearing is a Bad Idea
https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/9154915-municipal-snow-clearing-is-a-bad-idea/
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - clasher - 02-01-2019
(02-01-2019, 01:39 PM)creative Wrote: Municipal Snow Cearing is a Bad Idea
https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/9154915-municipal-snow-clearing-is-a-bad-idea/
Ima go out on a limb and guess that Scott Davey doesn't have to walk anywhere he doesn't want to.
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - Canard - 02-01-2019
Hmm, I never thought of it that way, and I get and tend to agree with his views.
The current system works well for people who walk by our house, because I’m so frantically afraid of getting tattled on, that we are out multiple times per day scraping down to the concrete constantly. We have the clearest sidewalk on our street by far! No mobility challenges here.
Now we just have to install that fear in every citizen, and we have the perfect solution for those who enjoy the privelage of walking around.
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - robdrimmie - 02-01-2019
I find the hyperbole far more irritating than the actual arguments being made, which I think at their core have some validity or at least represent common concerns worthy of addressing. But it's so over the top.
Hey, you people who care about active transportation you're all the same people asking for bike infrastructure AND municipal snow clearing so you get to pick one. That's all! There's nothing else about the budget that could change, just those things. Or playgrounds, but who would want to take that from our precious children, not even you horrible monsters would dare! Also hockey reference, because Canada! And no one else uses salt, only the city uses salt so if we use more of it we're going to burn our grass and spoil our water.
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - KevinL - 02-01-2019
On the flip side, Luisa D'Amato seems to be a full convert: https://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/9154491-d-amato-s-no-joke-city-adds-insult-to-injury-on-sidewalk-snow/
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 02-01-2019
That's incredibly frustrating. I'm so sick of this bullshit.
Queen St., a full week after the storm, is 100% impassable to anyone who's not fully able, and barely passable to someone with a stroller. I know because I walked there this morning.
There is no more major a road, there is no longer deadline, that we could possibly accept.
The current system is so completely broken.
The problem is folks like Davey, who drive everywhere, but who might walk around their neighbourhood where people shovel reliably won't have any idea that is the case.
It drives me crazy.
The ONLY places I've walked which were clear of snow any time this week were city cleared.
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - robdrimmie - 02-01-2019
Are there any members of any council in the region who regularly commute by anything other than car?
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - timc - 02-01-2019
I'm constantly confused by the salt argument when it comes to city sidewalk clearing. In my mind, we would use less salt because sidewalks don't need to be cleared down to bare concrete. Or do we think that government just has no idea how to use salt?
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - plam - 02-01-2019
(02-01-2019, 02:52 PM)robdrimmie Wrote: Are there any members of any council in the region who regularly commute by anything other than car?
Yes, there was some Twitter traffic about that.
https://twitter.com/janemitchell/status/1091046071978127361
Elizabeth Clarke, Diane Freeman, Angela Vieth, Dave Jaworsky were mentioned as being occasional transit users. Jeff Henry does not own a car.
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 02-01-2019
(02-01-2019, 03:08 PM)timc Wrote: I'm constantly confused by the salt argument when it comes to city sidewalk clearing. In my mind, we would use less salt because sidewalks don't need to be cleared down to bare concrete. Or do we think that government just has no idea how to use salt?
I think it's both a visibility problem (people who walk see salt on the sidewalk, but not necessarily on the road), and a "false flag" operation, people who want to oppose higher taxes call out salt as a reason to try to claim the environmental flag, despite roads being by far the biggest culprit, and obviously enabling more people to walk is good for the environment.
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - robdrimmie - 02-01-2019
(02-01-2019, 03:18 PM)plam Wrote:(02-01-2019, 02:52 PM)robdrimmie Wrote: Are there any members of any council in the region who regularly commute by anything other than car?
Yes, there was some Twitter traffic about that.
https://twitter.com/janemitchell/status/1091046071978127361
Elizabeth Clarke, Diane Freeman, Angela Vieth, Dave Jaworsky were mentioned as being occasional transit users. Jeff Henry does not own a car.
Awesome, thank you!
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - creative - 02-01-2019
Reread the entire article. He makes a lot of really good points but people choose to focus on salt which is actually a minor part of his statements.
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - Bob_McBob - 02-01-2019
His points boil down to "the city will do a bad job, it will cost too much, and it will ruin the environment".
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - danbrotherston - 02-01-2019
He also argues that it's a bad deal, with is absolutely false. A true accounting shows it to be VASTLY cheaper than the current situation. If you added up all the labor spent by every person who actually does clearing, you'd find it many many MANY times more expensive. But just like the salt that the city doesn't count when homeowners place it on the sidewalks, the city doesn't count the free labor they charge homeowners in lieu of higher taxes.
RE: Winter Walking and Cycling - creative - 02-01-2019
What a rediculous argument. It takes me less than 5 minutes on average to clear my sidewalk. 3.5 percent increase on my taxes would amount to $135 increase in my taxes.