02-13-2015, 08:31 PM
I think it is unreasonable to expect the city to plow all sidewalks. With the sprawling suburban neighbourhoods there are many many km of sidewalks. The city already does a poor job clearing the roads in these areas how can we expect perfectly cleared sidewalks in these areas. Many side streets in Kitchener won't even be plowed until they have 10cm of snow on them in a 24 hr period. Most are left with snow pack on them.
Its likely a lot easier for the home owners to shovel to get clear pavement rather than have sidewalk plows attempt it. I have yet to see a sidewalk on a main road cleared by a sidewalk plow down to the pavement. Once the snow is packed or the sidewalk is uneven they cannot do their job properly. At this point the only way that the sidewalk can be cleared is to apply salt, this is not good for our groundwater.
Perhaps as we continue to increase density it would make more sense to plow all sidewalks from a usage and cost point of view. It may be a decent interim item to ensure that at least bus stops are plowed and the sidewalks on the collector roads to these bus stops are plowed too, these could be done quickly enough to not get packed down so that the sidewalk plow can actually clear down to the pavement.
Its likely a lot easier for the home owners to shovel to get clear pavement rather than have sidewalk plows attempt it. I have yet to see a sidewalk on a main road cleared by a sidewalk plow down to the pavement. Once the snow is packed or the sidewalk is uneven they cannot do their job properly. At this point the only way that the sidewalk can be cleared is to apply salt, this is not good for our groundwater.
Perhaps as we continue to increase density it would make more sense to plow all sidewalks from a usage and cost point of view. It may be a decent interim item to ensure that at least bus stops are plowed and the sidewalks on the collector roads to these bus stops are plowed too, these could be done quickly enough to not get packed down so that the sidewalk plow can actually clear down to the pavement.