After winter of ice-caked sidewalks, Saint John staff ask for more snow-clearing money

After a difficult winter, staff with the City of Saint John asked council Monday night to consider a larger budget and better resources for cleaning up after storms.

Some of the six snowstorms this winter left city sidewalks caked in ice and snow for days and in some places weeks and made getting around hard for pedestrians.

These storm included one that began Christmas Eve and one in February, which brought ice pellets as well.

A staff report says only 50 to 60 per cent of the city's 11 sidewalk plows, and sometimes as few as 25 per cent, were available.

Public works director Tim O'Reilly said the city was able to stay on top of most of its street-cleaning efforts, but it struggled with sidewalk plowing because of aging equipment and parked cars. 

Nine out of the city's 11 sidewalk plows are at least nine years old, a staff report says, and only one plow has been replaced in the last five years. The usual lifespan of this equipment is about 12 years. 

"It's OK to have a couple of your equipment towards the end of its useful life," O'Reilly said. "But having that many certainly led to what happened this past winter in terms of having so many that were down."

With no contingency plans to address the lack of equipment, sidewalk clearing was significantly delayed.

"So in five of the six storms, pedestrians were delayed from using at least 65 kilometres of sidewalk longer than what our service standards call for," O'Reilly said. 

The supply of salt used for melting ice on sidewalks was also an issue as the season went on.

Coun. Gary Sullivan expressed concern about approving budget increases for winter resources, saying council-approved budget increases can pile up throughout the year. 

"It comes budget time, and there are all these council motions that have passed on budget increases, and either it's a big takeaway [from] somewhere else or it ends up being a tax hike," he said.

Ultimately, councillors voted to "investigate resources," meaning the recommendation will be considered with other city budget needs, but it they made no commitment to raising the snow-clearing budget.

"It's the citizens' money and we have to be responsible for it," Sullivan said. 

To encourage people to move vehicles before plowing periods, the city is also exploring substantially higher ticket fines and towing illegally parked cars that interfered with snow plowing.

Normally, when the city plans to clear certain streets after a snowfall, it will send out notices through email and on its website, redirecting people to alternative parking locations for the night.

The staff report says the city will be using a street-by-street approach in the coming season, and parking will be banned on individual streets during the day.  

Vehicles are ticketed when they are parked during parking bans related to snow-clearing. The fine is typically $30, O'Reilly said, and parking enforcement officers can ticket 80 to 100 vehicles during a parking ban, he said. 

"The fines are OK, but it doesn't help us get the street cleared when we need to get it cleared," he said. 

More specific recommendations will be brought back later this year.  

Sullivan said council will start considering 2026 budget issues in May.