Winter Walking and Cycling

[Canard]

[KevinL]

Looks like a lot of the paths they aren't clearing are loose surface; as no sidewalks exist like that, I don't see this as a double standard.

[Canard]

Ok, sounds good. Thank you so much Kevin.

[danbrotherston]

Looks like a lot of the paths they aren't clearing are loose surface; as no sidewalks exist like that, I don't see this as a double standard.

Both Waterloo and Kitchener fail to plow some paved trails as well, and some of the gravel trails in the park will be plowed.

And, gravel roads are also generally plowed.

And for that matter, why are some of our central high traffic trails not paved, the only gravel roads in the region are very minor local connectors in the rural parts of the region--yet we have a main connector in the main park, which is gravel.

[nms]

Properly designed and maintained stone dust pathways are cost effective and durable in most situations. Paved pathways look good for a couple of years and then slowly deteriorate beyond the point of being a danger before they are repaired. A slightly more expensive option would be paving bricks which can be replaced a few a time if necessary without the need to repave a whole section.

[ijmorlan]

Properly designed and maintained stone dust pathways are cost effective and durable in most situations.  Paved pathways look good for a couple of years and then slowly deteriorate beyond the point of being a danger before they are repaired.  A slightly more expensive option would be paving bricks which can be replaced a few a time if necessary without the need to repave a whole section.

And yet, we seem to be able to build and construct paved roads absolutely everywhere without this problem. Given the enormous square footage of paved roads in the Region, it is definitely not a problem to construct the much smaller area covered by all the paths in the Region to the same standard.

[tomh009]

The bylaw enforcement starts 24 hours after the END of a "snow event". Bylaw won't accept complaints made if snow has fallen anywhere in the city in the last 24 hours. So you really don't have to worry like that.

No. Quoting an earlier post by Pheidippides:

You can read the full by-law here:
https://lf.kitchener.ca/WebLinkExt/0/doc...Page1.aspx

The by-law treats snow and ice the same.
“Every owner or occupant of a building on premises adjoining a highway in the City shall clear away and remove the snow and ice from the sidewalks on such highway in front of, alongside or at the rear of such building within twenty-four hours after the cessation of snowfall. By-law 87- 171, 17 August, 1987.”

(…)

I never really understand why the by-law has been interpreted that the clock resets if it starts to snow again. I think the relevant passage is, “…within twenty-four hours after the cessation of a snow-fall…”. I think the key word is “a” snow-fall; it treats the snow falling as separate events.

Please see the original post for more details.

[Coke6pk]

The by-law treats snow and ice the same.
“Every owner or occupant of a building on premises adjoining a highway in the City shall clear away and remove the snow and ice from the sidewalks on such highway in front of, alongside or at the rear of such building within twenty-four hours after the cessation of snowfall. By-law 87- 171, 17 August, 1987.”

Not a lawyer, but do I own the land from the sidewalk to the highway?  I always thought that was city owned, and why I am not free to do as I please.

If this is the case, my premise DOES NOT adjoin a highway, it adjoins city owned property... making every sidewalk unclearable.

Coke

[goggolor]

Well, I know that in the past I have called Kitchener by-law to report chronic non-shovelers. I waited until it had been a full day without snow, called bylaw, only to be told that according to their records it had snowed somewhere in Kitchener in the last 24 hours so they were unable to accept my complaint (even though it was about a property that hadn't cleared the snow all winter).

That was a couple years ago, the following year they changed the rules so that they would at least *listen* to complaints if it had snowed recently, but my understanding is that they still would not investigate those complaints until the full 24 hours had passed.

[Ace]

The by-law treats snow and ice the same.
“Every owner or occupant of a building on premises adjoining a highway in the City shall clear away and remove the snow and ice from the sidewalks on such highway in front of, alongside or at the rear of such building within twenty-four hours after the cessation of snowfall. By-law 87- 171, 17 August, 1987.”

Not a lawyer, but do I own the land from the sidewalk to the highway?  I always thought that was city owned, and why I am not free to do as I please.

If this is the case, my premise DOES NOT adjoin a highway, it adjoins city owned property... making every sidewalk unclearable.

Coke

The sidewalk is within the road allowance - in this case defined as a Highway. 

If your premise DOES NOT adjoin a highway, then you have no road access and it is therefore landlocked.

[Coke6pk]

Thanks Ace.

[jamincan]

Technically you have to clear the snow 24-hours after it has fallen. The by-law doesn't say anything about the clock being reset. The problem is that by-law control wants interpretation to be unambiguous, otherwise the cost for enforcement skyrockets.

If by-law receives a complaint and then gives 24-hours to address the complaint, do they actively enforce this? Do they return 24-hours and check to see if it was done in the prescribed time, or just wait to see if another complaint comes in?

[Pheidippides]

Does anyone know, or could tweet at the city of Kitchener to find out, how many sidewalk clearing offences have been issued under the new pro-active enforcement rules?

Also, is there some place on the city's website or twitter feed that says that it has been 24hours and by-law will now accept complaints? Even some giant red/green indicator or timer showing when the snow 'officially' stopped falling on their front page would be useful.

[plam]

Does anyone know, or could tweet at the city of Kitchener to find out, how many sidewalk clearing offences have been issued under the new pro-active enforcement rules?

Also, is there some place on the city's website or twitter feed that says that it has been 24hours and by-law will now accept complaints? Even some giant red/green indicator or timer showing when the snow 'officially' stopped falling on their front page would be useful.

Sounds like it should be possible to FOIA this information.

[Section ThirtyOne]

Does anyone know, or could tweet at the city of Kitchener to find out, how many sidewalk clearing offences have been issued under the new pro-active enforcement rules?

Also, is there some place on the city's website or twitter feed that says that it has been 24hours and by-law will now accept complaints? Even some giant red/green indicator or timer showing when the snow 'officially' stopped falling on their front page would be useful.

Judging by my neighbourhood, the number is likely zero.

And bylaw is around here all the time ticketing cars for parking infractions, soooooo...