Some Toronto residents still scrambling through snow on sidewalks 3 days after storm, advocate says

Three days after a winter storm dumped up to 15 centimetres of snow on Toronto, a number of the city's sidewalks have not been cleared making access a challenge for people in wheelchairs, families with strollers and elderly people walking.

Accessibility advocate Russell Winkelaar says sidewalks are always hit and miss after a big snowstorm and people "can be stuck at the mercy of whoever is cleaning [their] street."

"Wheeling around the streets, It can be totally dependent on which businesses shovelled, and that's sort of the crux of it all," Winkelaar told CBC Toronto on Saturday.

"It's like some are great and consistent, they'll be out there even as it's snowing, and if the person next to them isn't open or they're not shovelling, then you're only getting as far as whoever shovelled with ease."

Winkelaar, who uses a manual chair, says it's "really tough" to operate when sidewalks are not cleared of snow.

"If sections have been walked upon and it's icy, then it's bumpy and really erratic and can throw you around or make it just impossible if you don't have the ability to push through that kind of obstacle, a lot of power chairs are going to get stuck in heavier snow," he said.

A winter storm hit Toronto on Wednesday, bringing heavy snow to the city, slowing travel and prompting calls for people to stay home on Thursday. The storm brought mixed precipitation but mainly snow.

A toll on mental health

Winkelaar says for people with a disability, working really hard to get to100 meters and then can't get further, "it's just kind of crappy and it's demoralizing."

"It takes a toll on mental health for everyone who's affected by physical barriers, whether they be snow or steps or whatever," he said.

"It's just everyday, I guess, what we call  microaggressions or just everyday small obstacles that mount. And it gets harder and harder as you get older."

The city's director operations and maintenance, Vince Sferrazza, says depending on the severity of a storm, multiple passes of plowing and de-icing may be required, which can take up to 72 hours. 

According to Sferrazza, approximately 95 per cent of all sidewalks in Toronto receive mechanical sidewalk snow clearing. However, he says that in some areas of the city, narrow sidewalk widths, lack of snow storage space and obstructions — street trees, parking metres, poles and retaining walls — create operational challenges, and these areas are cleared manually by workers.

Winkelaar says some of the more problematic areas include:

• The curb cuts where the sidewalk snowplows meet the road snowplows and there's always a big pile up of snow.

• Side streets — a lot of which don't get plowed regularly or immediately as the main streets.

• Bus shelters where there's a lot of snow built up from being pushed to the side.

• In front of businesses that are closed that day, so they haven't shovelled.

Jessica Bassett-Spiers and Brian Weed were out running errands on Saturday.

Bassett-Spiers said they decided to use a wagon "because it's the best to get through the sidewalks."

 "We have a stroller, but it's not very great for pushing through the snow, especially a lot of these smaller streets and laneways," Bassett-Spiers told CBC Toronto.

"So we take the wagon because it's got the big wheels and it can kind of pull through all those bits that haven't been shovelled"

Both Bassett-Spiers and Weed said it's essential for people to help each other out and shovel the area they are responsible for.

According to the city, if snowfall accumulation is less than two centimetres, it is up to residents and businesses to clear the sidewalks adjacent to their property of snow and ice within 12 hours of the end of a snowfall. 

Property owners are also responsible for clearing ice and snow from private property – such as driveways, parking spaces, steps, ramps and landings – within 24 hours after snowfall ends to provide safe access for people and vehicles, the city says.