Residents in two Winnipeg neighbourhoods say snow piles are forcing students to walk on the street to school.
Ashton Fontaine is a grade five student at École Julie Riel in St. Vital. He says a large pile along Ashworth Street makes his walk to school unsafe. He says most of the kids walk along the street the whole time.
“It’s really hard for us, me and my sister,” says Fontaine.
His father is growing frustrated with the situation. Denis Fontaine says the snow has been there for two weeks. He says he called 311 a week ago, but nothing has been cleared.
“I don’t think it’s real safe to expect children or even pedestrians to walk on a slippery street you know for weeks on end,” he says.
A Transcona woman is raising similar safety concerns. Janet Smith says students from Murdoch MacKay Collegiate and Collège Pierre-Elliot-Trudeau can’t use the public sidewalk to get to school.
“There are two high schools across, just beyond the sidewalk, and the kids have to walk on the road or go waist deep through the field,” Smith says.
She says students get off the public bus on Victoria Avenue East and find themselves surrounded by snow. Smith says even snowplows are having trouble with the pile on Victoria Avenue East.
“You can see where the snow plow got maybe 10 feet and hit it, and backed up and left the snow on our driveway, again,” says Smith.
City councillor Brian Mayes has been hearing complaints from across the city. He says clearing the sidewalks is a big undertaking.
"Clearly I'm concerned about school safety and getting kids to school safely, but you know I've asked the city staff to follow up to get to some of those areas," says Mayes.
Mayes says the city is doing its best, but encourages people to keep telling 311 about problems areas.
