'They don't feel safe': Sudburians call for better sidewalk plowing

Advocates say the City of Greater Sudbury must improve its sidewalk plowing because of the isolating effects poor maintenance can have on vulnerable people.

The city is seeking the public's input on five potential changes to the city's winter sidewalk maintenance standards. These emerged from a study Sudbury ran in the summer of 2021.

For Maria Bozzo, one of the founders of advocacy group Greater Sudbury Safer Sidewalks, this issue is only becoming more important as the city's population continues to age.

"When you look at a senior who has mobility issues, for instance, they may be housebound from the first snow in October until the spring thaw in April," she said. "That's not right."

Sudbury's public comment portal is open until March 24. The options it's considering include dropping the plowing threshold to five centimetres from the current eight, priority plowing on major routes, round-the-clock sidewalk maintenance, having property owners clear sidewalks on minor routes, or leaving operations as-is.

The policy of landowners clearing minor-route sidewalks is in effect in several cities in this province, but no northern Ontario cities currently use that policy, according to a staff report.

Advocates have done own studies

Bozzo said her group brought the issue of winter sidewalk maintenance to council in the fall of 2020. The following summer, the city ran its initial survey, but Greater Sudbury Safer Sidewalks also hosted its own. She said her group heard from 840 people.

The changes Bozzo said she'd like to see include dropping the plowing threshold even lower, to two centimetres, increased salting and sanding of intersections and public access to plow tracking data.

She said people of all ages benefit from clearer sidewalks, from children walking to school to parents pushing strollers and elders socializing and getting exercise in the winter.

"It makes for a healthier community. It makes for a more social community," she said.

Greater Sudbury Safer Sidewalks is hosting a virtual meeting on March 7 at 7 p.m. to describe the options the city is considering and encourage people to fill out Greater Sudbury's survey.

Mixed opinions on sidewalk standards

Kim Greene, the volunteer chair of fundraising at Independent Living Sudbury Manitoulin, said she'd like to see many of the changes that Bozzo outlined. Both of them have fallen while walking on icy surfaces in the city.

As a transit user, she has seen people having to climb snowbanks to board buses and struggling to reach the walk buttons at intersections, as snow piles often stand next to the utility poles.

She's also seen how it impacts people like her boyfriend, who uses a wheelchair.

"They don't feel safe. They can't go on the sidewalks. Even if the snow is a little bit loose, they'll end up stuck," she said. "They have bills to pay like anybody else. They have groceries to get. They have lives to live like anybody else."

CBC News spoke with several people around Sudbury's downtown who had mixed opinions on the city's current sidewalk maintenance. One of those people was Andrew Clark, who said he's had to help wheelchair users at intersections.

"I feel like every year's the same in Sudbury," he said.

Alyshia Fenerty said she walks on the city's streets every day and this year has seemed worse than others.

"It's never clear. There's always at least like an inch or two of ice or snow on the paved walks. It's hard to get by sometimes," she said.

Hallam said the city will be visiting community events like Sudbury Five games and the Science North market to spur more participation in the survey.