Waterloo council approves enhanced sidewalk snow-clearing plan

Starting in September 2024, the City of Waterloo will make it a priority to clear snow off sidewalks and multi-use trails in school zones.

The city is not taking additional sidewalk-clearing responsibility — it's only making it a top priority to remove snow in school zones.

As part of the new plan, snow will be cleared within 12 hours on any city-maintained trail or sidewalk as long as it is located within 800 metres of a school zone.

Clearing snow on sidewalks within school boundaries is still the responsibility of school boards, which are considered to be private property owners.

As a part of its current snow-clearing responsibilities, the city clears multi-use trails and paths around the city, as well as walkways and bike lanes. City plows also currently clear about 85 km of sidewalk — including 32 km of sidewalks along regional roads — that wraps in and around various city parks and facilities.

The approved recommendations also include a plan to clear an additional 25 kilometres of regional road sidewalks starting in fall 2026.

City council approved the enhanced winter sidewalk maintenance plan during a meeting on Monday night.

This comes after they were presented with a staff report in May that outlined various options along with the benefits and costs of changing the order of what the city would prioritize in its snow clearing plan. It also included findings from community engagement, where residents were able to share their thoughts on problem areas and service gaps.

"I feel like the city really heard residents," Waterloo resident Daisy Arseneault, one of the delegates during the council meeting, said Monday.

"I feel like the city is open to being creative and bringing in the right partners, bringing in the right city sidewalk clearing infrastructure of vehicles and whatever is needed to move in that direction."

Waterloo city Coun. Diane Freeman said the report also gives council a better idea of what services different residents may prioritize.

"[The report] recognizes that we each ranked different things," she said during the Monday night meeting.

"Based on where we live and the circumstances in which we find ourselves within the City of Waterloo, we each see different priorities within our wards. What I see here is a report that reflects that diversity that resides within the city."

The changes to the snow-clearing plan will be implemented in fall 2024 because it requires additional funding that was not included in the city's budget for 2023.

City's snow-clearing priorities

Through the new plan, sidewalks and multi-use trails in school zones will be cleared of snow first.

Also in the top three priorities: clearing crosswalks at approximately 50 intersections per day and providing additional accessibility supports with feedback from the city's Indigenous Initiatives, Anti-Racism, Accessibility and Equity team, the region's Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee and people with disabilities.

As part of the new plan, the City of Waterloo will also be clearing sidewalks that are on private property if there is more than eight centimetres of snow and the property owner is unable to shovel snow because of physical or financial difficulty.

Once the plan is in motion in 2024, plows will also begin clearing snow within 48 hours, which is faster than the current standard of clearing snow within 72 hours.

The city will also be spending $680,000 to buy specialized equipment, including two sidewalk snowplow units.

These service enhancements will lead to a 0.4 per cent property tax increase in 2024, a 0.5 per cent increase in 2025 and a 0.1 per cent increase in 2026.

Coun. Sandra Hanmer said the sidewalk snow-clearing plan is a good start to addressing the community's needs.

"Is it perfect? No. Is it a better step than where we are right now? Absolutely," she said.

"It's moving us, I think, in a direction that we can measure the success of it and then look to what other alternatives we have."