City's snow-clearing effort needs to be better, disability advocate says
Ongoing review of city's standards is opportunity to improve, says downtown councillor
An accessibility advocate is calling on the city of Ottawa to greatly improve how it clears snow from sidewalks, even with an above average snowfall accumulation this winter.
Sally Thomas says on several occasions recently she's waited more than a day for sidewalks in her Manor Park neighbourhood to be cleared, leaving her unable to venture out of her townhouse in her wheelchair.
"You feel like you can't really do anything," Thomas said. "And we're not talking like 40 centimetres of snow here."
The former powerlifting paralympian feels the city also needs to do a better job ensuring sidewalks remain clear, since street plows and private contractors are often pushing snow back onto walkways.
"I know it's Canada and it snows here, but the lack of snow clearing and not putting that in the budget to an acceptable amount is a very big barrier to all kinds of people with disabilities," she said.
Beyond the severe impact obstructed sidewalks have on people with mobility issues, Thomas points out Ottawa's goal of creating communities that are less car dependant and more conducive to active transportation.
"We can't have 15-minute neighbourhoods if people can't walk to places."
City reviewing winter standards
In a written statement to CBC, the city's director of roads and parking services shared that operational enhancements were recently implemented.
"Nearly 250 staff are dedicated to sidewalk maintenance operations and provide around-the-clock service when conditions and weather warrant the need for sidewalk maintenance," wrote Quentin Levesque.
But Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster says complaints about sidewalk clearing have been pouring into her office from other residents unable to safely get around downtown.
"If you literally become trapped in your home or trapped on your block because of a tiny ridge of snow, surely there's a solution that we can all come to," said Troster.
"I don't know if there's a way to better co-ordinate the sidewalk plows with the road plows to ensure that they're not constantly undoing each other's work, but it's a consistent problem in our neighborhood."
While the problem predates Troster's election to council last fall, the city has been in the process of modernizing its winter maintenance standards, which were last updated in 2003.
The standards state that sidewalks in the downtown core be plowed once the snow accumulation reaches 2.5 centimetres, and five centimetres for sidewalks in remaining residential neighbourhoods, but also caution that timelines may be suspended during "significant weather events."
Troster said she's looking for inspiration from other municipalities on ways to improve the city's ability to not only meet its own standards but make it easier for pedestrians.
"We're often prioritizing cars over people when it comes to snow clearing and we need to look at the degree of vulnerability that creates for people," said Troster.
"At the end of the day snow clearing is an accessibility issue, it's a human rights issue and it's a basic mobility issue in our city, so I want to make sure that we're doing it correctly."
The full impact of any changes to the city's snow clearing priorities won't be felt until next winter however, as staff still have to present recommendations to the transportation committee.
Then it will be a matter of ensuring the city's annual budget matches those priorities, Troster said.
"We need to take a look at how we fund these services," she said. "The question is: What kind of money and resources is that going to take?"
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