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Report calls for more winter plowing of sidewalks

Would mean 351km of city's 440kms of sidewalks would be cleared
snowsidewalks
The city's operations committee will decide next week whether to add an additional 26 kilometres of sidewalks to winter snowplowing routes, a move that will cost an additional $550,000. (File)

The city's operations committee will decide next week whether to add an additional 26 kilometres of sidewalks to winter snowplowing routes, a move that will cost an additional $550,000.

That amount includes $310,000 to buy additional equipment, and $240,000 in permanent annual costs. 

The move was approved in December, and was a compromise  between those who wanted to expand plowing to all 440 kilometres of sidewalks in the city, and those who preferred to keep costs down by maintaining current service levels. Currently, 325 km are plowed during winter. Expanding plowing to all at least one side of sidewalks was estimated to cost $1.3 million more.

Since amalgamation, city crews have maintained the same sidewalk routes that existed during regional government.

The revised plan aims to maintain sidewalks next to arterial and collector roads, sidewalks located on priority routes (including schools) and all sidewalks located on one-side of all two-sided sidewalk streets that create a reasonably connected loop. 

“The majority of these sidewalks are found in the Donovan, Flour Mill, West End, Copper Cliff, Levack, Falconbridge and Lively,” the report on the plan says. “Of the approximately 440 kilometres of sidewalks found within the City of Greater Sudbury nearly 350 kms or 80 per cent will receive winter maintenance commencing on Nov. 1, 2017, which reflects an increase of approximately five per cent from the previous total.”

Current standards has the city plow and  sands sidewalks once 8 cm of snow has fallen, or or icy conditions are detected. The city has four to 24 hours after the storm ends to complete the work during typical winter storms. Sidewalks are also plowed weekdays when there are no storms, when sidewalks are patrolled and are spot-plowed or sanded to make them safe for pedestrians.

Feedback from residents collected by the Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury found three priorities for sidewalk plowing:

-- Providing safe routes to school and to get on/off school buses for children; 

-- Prioritizing the removal of snow at bus stops, bus shelters and on bus routes; and 

-- Ensuring better quality sidewalk winter maintenance on arterial roads and at busy intersections. 

A more recent challenge for staff have been changes to weather patterns. There are more warm winter days, causing melting and slippery conditions on sidewalks.

“We manage the issue by performing additional plowing / sanding to ensure the surface is adequately sanded and is as smooth as possible, thereby ensuring compliance with the requirements of our current service level policy,” the report said.

 The report recommends boosting the service standard for sidewalks to bare pavement, rather than snow packed. That would require using chemicals to melt the snow, contaminating runoff that would eventually end up in lakes and rivers.

“One of the important principals of our Source Water Protection plan is to minimize the use of sodium chloride on our roadways throughout the city,” the report says. “Therefore, using sodium chloride on our sidewalks would only further complicate this requirement.”

And providing continuous snow removal for the 22 sidewalk routes would cost an addition $500,000 a year, not including added machine maintenance costs.


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