Downtowners complained about it for decades. Finally, this winter, their sidewalks will be plowed

Thestar.com
May 18, 2021
David Rider

City crews are poised next winter to start clearing snow from all sidewalks in central Toronto -- a big victory for residents and downtown councillors who long said it was unfair and dangerous for the city to plow only suburban walks.

A staff report released Monday calls a two-year pilot project, which saw 213 kilometres of central city sidewalks cleared with small plows, a success that should be expanded to the remaining 1,000-plus kilometres and made permanent.

Mayor John Tory supports the recommendation, making it very likely his council allies will help it get a majority of votes next week at infrastructure and environment committee and at city council next month.

Robert Stambula of the Harbord Village Residents Association welcomed with relief news that he won’t again have to argue for an end to the situation where even one resident failing to shovel can create a big hazard for many.

“It was tough slugging by a lot of communities, a lot of voices, and it remedies a long-outstanding problem for anyone with a mobility issue, parents with strollers and seniors who will no longer be boxed in,” he said in an interview.

“Finally the most used sidewalks in the city -- the downtown sidewalks -- are going to be accessible in the wintertime, so we’re thrilled.”

Complaints about the disparity, where some shovelling homeowners could look across an outdated civic border and watch a small city plow clear a neighbours’ walk, surfaced soon after Toronto’s amalgamation in 1998.

During annual budget deliberations, city staff would often say plows used on the other 7,029 km of sidewalk couldn’t fit in narrower central walks. Council, where suburban councillors outnumber those in the core, usually left it at that.

Cries for change grew louder in February 2019 when major snowstorms left some streets and sidewalks impassable for days. A city-hired consultant recommended piloting sidewalk plowing in the old city.

Transportation staff and councillors originally seemed cool to the idea but then agreed to motions from councillors Josh Matlow (Ward 12 Toronto-St. Paul’s) and Mike Layton (Ward 11 University-Rosedale).

Tory said expanding the service citywide will add about $4 million to the annual operating budget and require about $5.5 million worth of equipment purchases.

He praised city staff for carefully examining the service expansion so it “came about in the right and responsible way,” and for finding new smaller plows to do the job.

“This is great news for the people of the city of Toronto,” Tory said.

During the pilot project, about nine per cent of sidewalk couldn’t be plowed due to utility poles and other barriers. City staff will try to remove or relocate the barriers but, when they can’t, they’ll shovel that stretch by hand as they do in other parts of the city.

“I’m so happy that our many years of work to advocate for a safer and more equitable city has garnered results,” Matlow said. “It’s a testament to residents for making their voices heard and to council for hearing it.”

Residents shouldn’t have had to risk snow-covered icy sidewalks for years, he added -- “You don’t need a pilot project to figure out a small plow will fit in the space you measured” -- but at least they’ll finally get equal treatment.

Layton, who along with Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam (Ward 13 Toronto Centre) argued plowing is possible in the dense core, said the new report validates their arguments and its recommendation is “the right thing to do.”

At least one service disparity lingers from preamalgamation days -- mechanical collection of autumn leaf piles for homeowners in parts of Etobicoke and Scarborough.

Asked about leaf collection Monday, Tory said it comes up every budget cycle and “We’ll take that issue up when it comes up.”