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You are on the [Josh Matlow Newsletter March 2019] page of folder [Neighbourhoods]
For the cover page of this folder go to the From City Councillor Josh Matlow's March 2019 newsletter
City Must Improve Snow Clearing Services
I believe the City’s standards for clearing the snow is unacceptable. That's why, on our community’s behalf, I’ve been requesting the mayor and council to support improving snow clearing. This includes higher standards for roads, and for sidewalk clearing to be introduced in every neighborhood to improve the safety and accessibility of our city.
I’m concerned that there have been reports of residential streets not having even been plowed once after two or three snowfalls. And when the streets are cleared, plows leave large walls of snow and ice (windrows), which has affected permit parking, blocked driveways and covered drop off/pick up zones in front of schools.
In far too many areas of Toronto, shoveling sidewalks is the responsibility of the property owner fronting the walk. If even one property owner doesn’t clear the snow, the entire block can be unsafe and inaccessible for many seniors, parents with strollers, and others with mobility challenges.
Improved snow clearing is a priority for Torontonians and I don’t accept this shouldn’t be a basic service that a Canadian city provides.
Mayor Tory has announced that he supports a review, to be undertaken by city staff, regarding snow clearing standards across our city. I’m actively encouraging residents to let the mayor know that this is a priority to them.
For more information, please see this Toronto Star article and this CP24 piece.
Toronto doesn’t properly prepare for snowstorms
By Edward Keenan Star Columnist Tues., Feb. 19, 2019
Excerpt:
....I’m talking, obviously, as much about the city’s snow plowing operations as about anything. Everyone else is talking about it too. Councillor Josh Matlow has demanded the city implement higher standards for snow clearing including on sidewalks across the city. A group of residents upset about the unplowed state of bike lanes got out with shovels to clear Dundas Street on the weekend. The mayor has asked for a review of snow operations, holding out the possibility of doing more. The City Ombudsman’s office announced Tuesday afternoon that it would be investigating “broad-based public concern about snow removal in Toronto this winter.”
Ombudsman Susan Opler said there were two issues she’d identified. First, the quality of service the city is providing where many roads, sidewalk and bike lanes aren’t being cleared in “a timely manner.” Second, the double standard between different neighbourhoods when it comes to clearing sidewalks — some get city clearance, other residents are expected to clear the sidewalks in front of their homes.
Yep, and yep.
I’ve written before about how unfair it is — and how ineffective it is — to mandate residents to clear sidewalks rather than having the city do it, and the Star editorial board wrote about it earlier this winter, coming to the same conclusion. It’s silly that in some neighbourhoods, mostly the old inner suburbs, the city clears sidewalks, while in other neighbourhoods it does not, forcing homeowners by law to do it. But worse, it’s ineffective, because that legal mandate to property owners doesn’t motivate everyone. If even one homeowner on a block doesn’t shovel their walk, the whole block is essentially impassable for someone who depends on a wheelchair, for example. And a survey of most blocks a few days after a big snowfall will show you it’s more than a house here or there that’s neglecting the job.
Letter from Mayor John Tory:
The Mayor knows that our City's winter operations are some of the most important services that we provide to our residents.
In response to the snowfall that the City of Toronto has experienced lately, the City's Transportation Services Division had crews working non-stop to clean-up our main streets and make sure our city kept moving. Regardless of these Herculean efforts by our crews, the Mayor knows that many residents felt frustrated with the service they received.
The Mayor wants to ensure that we are providing the absolute best winter operations we can. This is why the Mayor has requested a review of our winter operations so that we are doing everything possible to deal with difficult and extreme winter weather.
The Mayor has asked the General Manager of Transportation Services to launch a review focusing on:
• A study of our service levels around snow removal.
• The threshold for declaring a major snow event to trigger parking restrictions along key routes so those roads can be cleared quicker.
• How we can establish a zero tolerance system for vehicles blocking streetcar routes to ensure they are removed immediately and that drivers face stiff penalties for this infraction.
• A look at best practices and technology used in other Canadian cities when dealing with snow and ice.
• The cost of clearing the sidewalks in the Toronto and East York community council area and a detailed look at the benefits of harmonizing the city's sidewalk clearing.
Our City's winter operations ensure that despite the most severe weather conditions of the year, our residents can get around Toronto to work, school, and appointments, in a safe and timely manner. The Mayor believes our residents expect this service to be reliable and absolutely there when they need it throughout the winter season. With the review of the City's winter operations, it would ensure that we are doing everything possible to deal with difficult and extreme winter weather.
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