New study shows sidewalks aren’t cleared
When Mike Boos was walking with his young children to the public library the other day, uncleared snow clogged part of the sidewalk on Weber Street.
The only way he could keep going was to lift the stroller, child and all, and carry it to a clear spot.
It’s a typical situation in winter. But it’s also ludicrous that people have to do things like this.
Each year it makes less and less sense that local cities leave the job of clearing snow and ice on sidewalks to property owners.
We’re getting older. We’re getting better educated about our need to exercise. We’re getting an expensive new public transit system that we need to use instead of driving. If we can’t walk outside in winter, we have real problems.
Many property owners don’t clear sidewalks, even days after a snowfall. Complaints don’t always solve the problem in a timely manner. Sometimes, bus stops and crosswalks are cleared and then re-clogged by plows that come by later.
This is a human rights issue, not a mere inconvenience. People in wheelchairs, or who push strollers or walkers, or who are just unsteady on their feet, can’t walk safely when snow and ice aren’t cleared.
They are forced either to pay for taxis, to walk on the road, or to stay home. But why should they incur extra expense, put themselves in danger, or be deprived of full participation in society?
A newly released study clearly shows that the current situation is grossly inadequate.
The study, done by the TriCities Transport Action Group, had volunteers look at 12 streets in Kitchener on six occasions between Jan. 29 and Feb. 16 last year.
Some were busy transit routes such as Weber Street and Highland Road. Others were quiet suburban streets like Westwood Drive and Gildner Street.
Volunteers made note of each time there was uneven snow or ice on a sidewalk or at an intersection crossing, said Boos, an executive committee member for the transport action group, which advocates for people who walk, cycle and take public transit.
If snow was level and packed down, it was not considered a problem by the researchers, even though technically it is supposed to be cleared to the bare pavement. Some streets had as many as 36 obstructions. Only twice did a street have a perfect record of being cleared.
Read the study for yourself at tritag.ca/wintersidewalks.
Even when it hadn’t snowed in the past three days, the researchers still recorded 13 obstructions per kilometre of road, Boos said.
The study calculated that the average transit user has more than an 80 per cent chance of finding an obstruction in the walk to the bus stop.
The transport action group wants the City of Kitchener (which it considers to be the most concerned about pedestrian rights) to undertake a pilot study this winter and next.
Three neighbourhoods would be chosen, under this proposal.
One would have sidewalks cleared by a city plow, which other cities already do, including Burlington, Ottawa and London.
Another would have sidewalks cleared by property owners with city inspectors dropping by to check in a “pro-active” manner,
The third would be the status quo, with property owners clearing the sidewalks and inspectors coming by only when there’s a complaint.
Then a study would be done, similar to what the transport action group did, to see which method creates the safest environment for pedestrians.
It’s a good idea, and it deserves serious consideration from Kitchener council.
This, after all, is the city that adopted a Pedestrian Charter with much fanfare in 2005.
That charter notes that walking is the only way to get around that is universally affordable, and available to almost everyone regardless of age.
It pledges infrastructure to give “safe and convenient passage” to people who walk along and cross streets.
And it promises to “uphold the right of pedestrians of all ages and abilities to safe, convenient, direct and comfortable walking conditions.”
Allowing uncleared snow and ice on sidewalks makes a mockery of these promises.