Fierce winds bury sidewalks in snow
When gusty winds sweep across an open field covered with snow, the sidewalk in front of it is sure to be filled in.
Predictions that this would be an old-fashioned winter were bang on. It’s been miserable for several weeks, and there’s nothing but bitter cold and more snow in the forecast.
It has unleashed a flurry of complaints about snow removal. Ian Robson emailed us about sidewalks covered with snow since Christmas on Chaplin Cr.
A reader posted a complaint on See-ClickFix of an alley that runs from Belanger Cr. that has yet to be plowed this winter.
Bill Waicus, the Fixer’s cousin, is keeping us posted about snowpacked sidewalks around the Eglinton West TTC station; some but not all have finally been cleared.
But the most compelling was a photo posted on SeeClickFix of a sidewalk on the west side of Danforth Rd., north of Mack Ave., completely filled with knee-deep snow.
The person who posted the issue described it as “3ft. of snow/ice created unsafe sidewalk; pedestrians forced onto dangerous road in order to access TTC bus stop.”
That post was enough to send us scurrying to Danforth Rd. to see it for ourselves.
Sure enough, the sidewalk south of a new street called Lily Cup Ave. — named for the iconic Lily Cup plant that long occupied Danforth, north of Mack, until it was demolished a half-dozen years ago — is knee deep with fresh snow.
It’s not three feet, but deep enough that it had us wondering how so much snow could accumulate, in spite of the efforts of city plowing contractors, who had recently cleared the sidewalk.
But it wasn’t hard to figure out. There’s a wide-open field where the Lily Cup plant once stood, which is now filled with snow. Westerly winds have blown snow from the field onto a sidewalk that had already been cleared. Status: We’ve asked transportation services if it can arrange to have a plowing contractor to take another run at the sidewalk, between Lily Cup Ave. and Mack Ave. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. Send an email to jlakey@thestar.ca. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.