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City seeks public input on addressing icy sidewalks

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2024/02/28/city-seeks-public-...

WHILE city crews are proactively seeking out slippery sidewalks to sand, they’re also asking Winnipeggers to point out trouble spots, after a recent freeze-thaw cycle created treacherous conditions.

A City of Winnipeg post on X (formerly Twitter) asks residents to report the streets, sidewalks and paths that need sanding the most.

“We’ve got thousands of kilometres of sidewalk and pathway. We do have city staff actively out trying to address public areas by putting out sand … but the more we can work together as a community to help, the better we will be,” said Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works. “So, we’re encouraging residents to help, to call in these trouble spots.”

For sidewalks, Lukes (Waverley West) said public reports help target sanding where it’s needed most.

“When (the temperature is) back and forth like this, for sure we get more calls, because every day the conditions are different. And it is frustrating because people have strollers, they want to walk, it’s slippery. This last spell (of winter weather) was a real bad one … but if we’re notified of the troubled areas, we’ll get out there,” said Lukes.

The councillor noted repeated freeze-thaw cycles have made some routes more treacherous this winter, but stressed the city has invested more to keep sidewalks and active transportation paths clear. That included spending $3 million to buy 15 sidewalk snow-clearing machines, which arrived in time for this winter.

The recent weather patterns made sidewalks especially tough to navigate on Monday, when Rachel Unger fell on a slick patch of ice covered by a layer of snow.

“I think it was an issue of weather just because it melted so much and just got really, really cold. It was snow-covered ice, so I didn’t even see that it was there. … It all happened very fast,” said Unger, who uses they/ them pronouns.

The fall caused a torn knee ligament, so they may require surgery.

Unger suspects sanding might have prevented the injury altogether and hopes the city will take additional proactive measures to sand sidewalks, such as by adding set timelines to complete the treatment.

“This winter has just been so wild and very unpredictable from anyone’s standpoint. This is not typical … (but) it would be nice to have a more standardized approach, knowing that it’s not going to prevent all injuries. If we could prevent some (injuries) that would be amazing,” they said.

Lukes said requiring all sidewalks to be sanded within a set amount of time would prove challenging and may not be the most effective use of tax dollars, since sidewalk conditions can vary on a block-by-block basis.

“You can literally go down two blocks and see (both) frozen ice and dry sidewalk … I really don’t think sanding every sidewalk in the city (would) be a very efficient use of our resources,” she said.

The timing of sidewalk sanding is currently based on visual inspections and weather conditions, spokeswoman Julie Horbal Dooley said in an email.

“Sanding/ice control isn’t a matter of one-and-done completeness; often, when conditions are suitable, we will sand the entire Priority 1 (major route) and Priority 2 (collector street) sidewalks after a full network plow. Outside of plowing operations, we will sand if and where conditions require it — not on a city-wide or priority-(based) basis,” wrote Horbal Dooley.

Coun. Matt Allard, who has repeatedly called for enhancements to sidewalk snow clearing, said he’s not sure more sanding is the answer.

Allard (St. Boniface) said his call to have all sidewalks cleared at the same priority level as major route roads, which was recently rejected by city council, would be more effective in keeping sidewalks passable.

“(It would) mean comparable conditions for someone who’s driving a car on a (major route) and someone who’s walking on a sidewalk. It would, in my opinion, involve a situation where a slippery sidewalk is the exception and not the rule when you’re looking at the freeze-thaw conditions,” he said. City policy dictates that roads on Priority 1 major routes be cleared to bare pavement, with plowing completed within 36 hours after a snow event ends. Crews are expected to plow downtown sidewalks to a paved surface when “conditions allow,” while sidewalks along major routes and collector streets are cleared to a compacted snow surface, both within 36 hours after a storm ends.

Residential sidewalks are to be maintained to a compacted snow surface, with plowing completed within five working days after work starts.

Allard said more frequent sanding may be less effective than changing snow-plowing timelines and standards, since sand can be frozen over during freeze-thaw cycles.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.camailto:joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga