City councillors debate snow clearing process on Winnipeg sidewalks

Winter is quickly disappearing, but the topic of snow clearing on sidewalks was discussed at a city committee Tuesday.

The standing policy committee on public works heard from a variety of people upset with the city's sidewalk snow clearing.

"My own fear of falling in winter months is heightened," said Connie Newman, the executive director of Manitoba Association of Senior Communities. "I know if I fall at my age and I break a bone or two, I'll never be the same."

The debate stems from a motion calling on the city to create a pilot program to clear sidewalks right down to the pavement. Coun. Matt Allard (St. Boniface) brought forward the motion, saying it's a matter of human rights and mobility.

Allard says better clearing could prevent injuries.

"A lot of it is just simple slips and falls. So I think there is tremendous opportunity to explore this policy and I think we could be doing more. We could at least do a study on what a pilot could look like," said Allard.

The city's current snow clearing policy calls for sidewalks along major routes, non-regional bus routes and collector streets to be cleared to a compacted snow surface following five centimetres of snow.

"We have to take into account the way it snows and the freeze-thaw cycle that sometimes wreaks havoc," said Mayor Scott Gillingham. "This year has been particularly bad for the amount of ice we have on our roads and sidewalks."

Committee chair, Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West), said Allard's recent motion won't fix all of the city's snow clearing issues. She said the city is set to receive a report about snow clearing from the public service in June.

"This is their job. They are professional engineers. They are professional people that are focused every day on learning how to better clear our roads and clear our sidewalks and pathways," said Lukes.

Allard feels the city shouldn't wait for the report.

"Those words are empty because when we direct the public service to do something, we tell them to do something. We don't wait for a report to come. We vote as a council and direct them to do something," said Allard.

The committee voted unanimously Tuesday to take the motion as information.