Winter Walking and Cycling

[danbrotherston]

The simplest explanation is that, like most people, he's stubborn, and perhaps more stubborn than the norm. Thus, now that he's stated a position on something, it's almost impossible for him to change it. That's why he has to invent arguments like those concerning salt usage.

This quote from Gloria MacNeil in the article jumped out at me: "Generally our biggest concern is ice. Somebody could have done a fantastic job but there was one section where there was some ice, and we issued a notice. There are people who are very frustrated about that."

I'm one of those people who is very frustrated to hear that. Her "concern" is not about keeping sidewalks clear, but what kind of flak she's going to get from ratepayers who get notices. The bylaw officers should not be wasting their time writing up notices when homeowners have done a generally "fantastic job," not when there are properties which have not been cleared whatsoever and are literally impassable.

She's explaining that the bylaw officers have no discretion to issue notices in support of the goal of keeping sidewalks passable, or that they have another goal entirely. It's a purely bureaucratic exercise.

One way to fix this, now, this winter, would be to focus on complaints first. We can see from the numbers that those are more likely to be actual scofflaws that will never be clear (perhaps to any extent) without intervention. And by not "proactively enforcing," the municipality can avoid wasting time issuing notices to people who have done "fantastic jobs" for purely legal reasons, and focus on the properties that are causing enough inconvenience to get people to call in.

Going to have to disagree.  Ice is extremely dangerous, it cannot be left, people have to use salt (or another product), and use it properly to manage the risk.  Just because the snow has been removed does not mean a sidewalk is safe and passable.

I totally agree we have a disaster of a sidewalk clearing policy, and that enforcement is a joke, but I'm not going to give sheets of ice a pass just because other sidewalks are entirely blocked with snow.

I'd even go so far to say ice is more dangerous, it probably leads to more injuries, but less stranding...since it doesn't pose as obvious a barrier.

Of course, the real solution is to just have the city do it, lay down an appropriate amount of salt and hit it with a plow/brush.

CRAZY right...