01-14-2016, 12:24 PM
Well, winter is back, and although Waterloo Region has only received about six inches of snow over the last few days, the sidewalks are generally terrible. Even very close to downtown, there are plenty of property owners who are not clearing their sidewalks as required.
It’s pretty obvious that requiring property owners to clear their own sidewalks is not working. Walking down a street, a quarter of property owners may have their sidewalk completely immaculate, but if the same proportion have done little or no clearing in days (and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration), it’s almost pointless since people who struggle in these conditions will have to stay home. So few people seem to realize that they have to clear the sidewalk windrows, and it’s not hard to imagine this being extremely dangerous for someone on a scooter or pushing a stroller or otherwise encumbered.
Maybe someone can explain to me if anyone is really afoul of the bylaw at all. It hasn’t stopped snowing for a constant 24 hour period since Sunday: if I understand correctly, sidewalks don’t need to be cleared until the snow stops, and stays stopped, for a full day. So, on a week like this (which can’t exactly be considered abnormal for this region), we should just expect many sidewalks to be practically impassable.
It’s pretty obvious that requiring property owners to clear their own sidewalks is not working. Walking down a street, a quarter of property owners may have their sidewalk completely immaculate, but if the same proportion have done little or no clearing in days (and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration), it’s almost pointless since people who struggle in these conditions will have to stay home. So few people seem to realize that they have to clear the sidewalk windrows, and it’s not hard to imagine this being extremely dangerous for someone on a scooter or pushing a stroller or otherwise encumbered.
Maybe someone can explain to me if anyone is really afoul of the bylaw at all. It hasn’t stopped snowing for a constant 24 hour period since Sunday: if I understand correctly, sidewalks don’t need to be cleared until the snow stops, and stays stopped, for a full day. So, on a week like this (which can’t exactly be considered abnormal for this region), we should just expect many sidewalks to be practically impassable.