The City of Winnipeg’s policy on snow clearing and ice control dictates sidewalks outside of downtown be maintained to a compacted snow surface, meaning a layer of snow several centimetres deep is left on sidewalks all winter. This layer creates significant challenges for pedestrians and can be an impassable barrier for people using wheelchairs or those with limited mobility.

There is a common misconception the condition of city sidewalks is inevitable because it’s caused by water from adjacent melting snowbanks.

Most regular sidewalk users, however, understand this “compacted snow surface” is what creates the most significant safety issues, and it’s a problem not only in the spring but throughout the winter.

As long as the surface remains frozen and compacted, it’s fine; but on warmer days throughout the winter, it becomes soft and, as people walk over it, the surface breaks up, becoming pitted and uneven with slush and water filling the crevices that form in the layer of snow.

When the temperature drops again, it freezes in place, creating a slippery and unstable surface that can remain until it’s re-compacted during the next significant snowfall. This cycle is compounded in the spring months, as temperatures fluctuate daily.

Allard’s motion to address this issue by keeping sidewalks snow-free has been presented many times in the past and is always met with opposition claims it’s not possible to clear to pavement because it’s too costly and sidewalk conditions are too poor to allow it.

Other cities, however, have successfully used pilot projects to experiment, innovate and establish a greater understanding of the issues and costs involved.

In Ottawa and Montreal, ice-breaker machines that resemble small steamrollers with spike-studded drums were tested for two years, before large numbers were purchased and are now in successful use. Machinery such as rotating brushes being used in other cities could also be tested to see if they can alleviate the sidewalk condition obstacle.

In Edmonton, a pilot study investigated the use of a calcium chloride solution instead of salt, finding it was highly effective at removing ice even at low temperatures, reducing falls and accidents, and actually saved money by reducing the need to plow.

The cost of sidewalk clearing represents only 10 per cent of the overall Winnipeg snow-clearing budget, so understanding the scale of any increases might allow us to devise a strategy that is manageable. If sidewalk condition is a limiting factor, accelerating sidewalk renewal would be an important solution.

Extrapolating public works’ estimates, the cost of replacing all 3,400 kilometres of sidewalk in Winnipeg would be about $500 million, a similar price tag to the Chief Peguis Trail extension the mayor made as a campaign promise. Of course, there is no need to replace every sidewalk, but the comparison demonstrates the things we can and can’t afford are defined more by priority than economics.

Even if we decide complete sidewalk snow-clearing isn’t feasible citywide, we might make targeted changes.

In many mature neighbourhoods, sidewalks are vital arteries of mobility, essential to life in the community. They connect people to things such as work, school, shopping and public transit.

As an example, in the Osborne area, more than 11,000 trips per day are taken on foot, with 22 per cent of the neighbourhood walking or biking to work. Another 23 per cent walk to the bus.

In Wolseley, 27 per cent commute on foot or bike, and 20 per cent by bus.

In St. Boniface, 19 per cent walk to work, and 8,500 pedestrian trips are made every day.

In most newer communities, less than one per cent of the population walks or bikes to work, and even in older areas such as North Kildonan, only four per cent do.

A study that allows us to create data-driven policy that at least ensures sidewalks are safe in areas where they are most used and are most important to quality of life, would have valuable societal impacts.

The fact Winnipeg is a winter city shouldn’t mean its residents accept a lower quality of life.

We should be driven to become the most livable winter city in the world. Central to this goal is ensuring sidewalks are safe and accessible to all people of all ages and abilities in all seasons.

Innovative cities set ambitious goals and through testing, research, and experimentation, work to achieve them.

They look for solutions, not excuses.

Brent Bellamy is senior design architect for Number Ten Architectural Group