Online campaign targets city’s sidewalk clearing

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2024/01/31/online-campaign-ta...

ORGANIZATIONS that speak for seniors and people with disabilities hope pictures of poorly cleared sidewalks in Winnipeg will force politicians and bureaucrats to step up.

The S(NO)w Plow campaign, which launched on Facebook this week, is made up of several organizations including the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities, Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba, Transportation Options Network for Seniors and the Visually Impaired Resource Network.

“We want Winnipeggers to share their photos and their stories to show the people who make these policy decisions that it is not a few complainers here, it is a citywide problem,” said Melissa Graham, executive director of the league, on Wednesday.

“It creates inequality when your sidewalk is cleared at a different level… I know people who don’t leave their houses this time of year because they feel the sidewalks are too unsafe.”

Graham said a social media site that uses photos to highlight the problem is needed because she and the other groups have tried many times to persuade councillors to improve sidewalk plowing.

For example, on Tuesday, councillors on the city’s public works committee failed to act on a motion that would have required all sidewalks in the city to be plowed as quickly as major streets such as Portage Avenue and Pembina Highway following a snowfall.

“I’m disappointed,” Graham said. “To me, sidewalks should be the most prioritized ones in the city for plowing because they impact everyone.”

Graham said the problem extends to the recent spell of mild temperatures that has created slushy conditions. It means the wheels of her power wheelchair get stuck in the slush.

David Kron, executive director of the cerebral palsy association, said while councillors have shelved the latest motion, “a larger debate has to be made.

“There is more work to this than to just say no. It is not going away.”

Kron said having online photos that show plowing problems on sidewalks is better than simply making a complaint to the city’s 311 system.

“I know we live in a place with snow and winter, but reasonable accommodation needs to be made,” he said.

“The city is liable for people who fall on sidewalks and roads. It can happen to anyone.”

Coun. Janice Lukes, the public works chairwoman, said all sidewalks could be done to the same level as those on top priority streets, but it would cost millions of dollars more each year.

Lukes said a report last year found the city would have to buy 54 more sidewalk plows for about $12 million, spend $7 million to operate them annually and also build a garage to store them during the off season.

Even if this was done, Lukes said it wouldn’t solve the problem of sidewalk accessibility during winter.

“There is snow left on either side of the sidewalk when a plow goes down and when it melts it goes into the trough — the sidewalk,” she said. “The only way it could be prevented is to remove all of the snow there. You would need plows, trucks and equipment and then you haul it all to the snow dumps. Imagine what this would cost.

“We fiscally and financially can’t remove all of the snowbanks. But I really think Winnipeg is one of the best cities for removing snow.”

Lukes said a report into this year’s snow-clearing effort, including where improvements need to be made, is expected in June.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca