Residents shovel-ready or not?

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This article was published 26/12/2021 (998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you want it cleared the right way, should you have to shovel it yourself?

Some Winnipeggers say residents should be required to shovel the sidewalks adjacent to their homes to ensure they are safely passable throughout the winter.

Others, however, think that would create new problems.

After a series of complaints that ruts, slick ice and snow have been left to build up, many believe transferring responsibility from municipally funded crews to businesses and homeowners would trigger a noticeable improvement.

“Coming (to Winnipeg from Calgary) years and years ago, I was surprised at how difficult it is to get around after a snowfall,” said Vic Pereira, who walks with the help of a guide dog due to a vision impairment. “Nobody’s clearing sidewalks.”

Pereira said many winter cities already require residents to clear sidewalks adjacent to their homes, and the result is a quick cleanup that prevents the buildup of dense ice ridges and packed snow. He said Winnipeg’s current system often takes days or even weeks to complete and leaves the paths in “extremely poor” condition much of the time.

Pereira doesn’t blame the crews, arguing they have too-large areas to clear, making it more likely some spots will be missed.

He believes the task wouldn’t be too onerous to divide among homeowners, arguing that most seniors and those with mobility issues could expand arrangements already in place to clear their walks and driveways.

“There’s expectations and responsibilities that come along with owning a home or renting a home. Part of that is helping maintain the public space adjacent to your property,” he said.

However, others say implementing such a measure would place an unfair burden on people with physical challenges.

Allen Mankewich, who uses a wheelchair and has lobbied the city to improve sidewalk snow clearing, said that’s one key reason why public snow removal is still the best option. If the task were shifted to homeowners, conditions could worsen cumulatively over the season as an unwilling or unable resident fails to comply with the new rules, he said.

“If one person doesn’t do it, your whole block is essentially impassable, depending on the condition. I think sticking with the system we have and enhancing it is best,” said Mankewich.

He noted some Canadian cities have recently faced challenges with imposing sidewalk-clearing bylaws on residents. During the winter of 2016-17, for example, more than 10,000 warning notices were issued to Vancouver residents who failed to get the job done on time.

Edmonton, Calgary and Saskatoon are also among the Canadian cities that require property owners to clear their own sidewalks. Fines or bills for city clearing can be charged to those who don’t get the job done on time. A Calgary bylaw requires residents to remove a minimum width of 1.5 metres of snow and ice (down to the bare surface) within 24 hours after a snowfall ends.

Back in 2015, having homeowners take over sidewalk snow clearing was debated at Winnipeg city hall when it was mentioned as “an option” in the city’s pedestrian and cycling strategy. Council never pursued it.

And there doesn’t seem to be much political appetite to shift the responsibility now.

“It’s not something that’s on my priority list. We’re right now looking at how (we can) ensure that the (snow-clearing) policy we’ve set out is being applied… (and) giving tools to our public service to get the job done that we require,” said Mayor Brian Bowman.

A city study on making sidewalks and active-transportation routes less slippery and more passable during winter weather is now underway, with a report expected to offer suggestions by next spring or summer.

Bowman noted an increase in the number of unseasonably warm days does appear to be creating more ice, hindering recent efforts to keep sidewalks clear.

“This year was particularly bad because of the freeze-and-thaw cycle that we saw, and so there’s some pretty dangerous sections,” he said.

Coun. Scott Gillingham said he’s hesitant to call upon residents to shovel sidewalks, due to concerns older or less-mobile homeowners would find the task difficult.

However, he urged those able to clear the walks in front of their properties to do so voluntarily.

“Residents don’t have to wait for the city machinery to roll down the sidewalk to have their sidewalks clear. Some residents can take it upon themselves… there’s nothing preventing that,” said Gillingham.

In an email, city spokesperson Julie Horbal Dooley said it costs about $400,000 to complete a citywide sidewalk-clearing operation, adding the city is “not in a position” to estimate how much it would save by having Winnipeggers take over the work.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga