Waterloo must ‘walk the talk’ and clear icy sidewalks at public expense, frustrated residents tell city council

Residents complained 2,870 times about uncleared sidewalks last winter. City hall issued 808 snow-clearing orders.
Thestar.com
Jan. 19, 2023
Jeff Outhit

Ashwin Annamalai hears city government say it wants people to drive less. Yet Waterloo won’t clear all sidewalks of snow and ice.

This puts him at risk of slipping and falling. It encourages people to drive in winter rather than walk, he argues.

Fed up, Annamalai pleaded with city council this week to raise taxes or find other ways to clear all sidewalks at public expense.

“We should walk the talk,” he told council. “We should stop making regular contributions to emergency rooms by making people slip and fall because of all these uncleared sidewalks.”

Annamalai is a tech worker without a car. He gets around by walking, cycling and riding transit, but he has tumbled on snowy sidewalks and finds it frustrating.

Waterloo moves fast to keep roads clear of snow and ice but it treats sidewalks as an afterthought, he said. This isn’t fair to people who can’t afford cars, and to students, new immigrants, and others who are more likely to walk, he said.

“By not clearing sidewalks on time, we are sending a message to pedestrians that, ‘Hey, you should probably get a car because this is not working for you,’ ” he said. “Is this promoting sustainability?”

Some cities see it as the job of government to clear all sidewalks at public expense. Examples include London, Guelph, and Burlington in Ontario, as well as Montreal in Quebec.

Waterloo clears one in six sidewalks at public expense and compels owners with sidewalks next to their property to shovel the rest within 24 hours of a snowfall, threatening bylaw fines of $250 if owners take too long.

“We do feel it’s a quicker response, a more environmental response,” community services commissioner Mark Dykstra said, arguing owners use less salt and emit fewer greenhouse gases compared to city vehicles.

Annamalai counters that impassable sidewalks persuade more people to buy cars, which increases greenhouse gases even more.

Pedestrian Craig Sloss argues the city’s strategy is failing.

“We need to adopt a sidewalk snow clearing strategy that results in clear sidewalks, not one that results in bylaw violations,” he said.

Sloss walks five kilometres a day. He often slips on icy sidewalks, or is unable to walk on one that is uncleared.

He pointed out to council that complaints about icy sidewalks more than tripled between 2020 and 2022 even as the city beefed up bylaw enforcement. This shows heavier enforcement of the bylaw is not making sidewalks clearer.

“We have seen more complaints, not fewer,” he said.

Residents complained 2,870 times about uncleared sidewalks last winter. City hall issued 808 snow-clearing orders.

Waterloo has no plan to clear all sidewalks but the issue is heading for a review. “This really is an essential conversation we need to be having,” Coun. Jen Vasic said.

Councillors were told in 2020 that it would cost city hall $3 million a year to extend snow clearing to all sidewalks and trails in Waterloo.

Coun. Royce Bodaly said other cities have been criticized for doing a poor job clearing sidewalks. Annamalai said Montreal does a good job clearing sidewalks based on time he spent there, and Waterloo’s goal should be to do it right.