Hamilton will expand sidewalk snow-clearing to cover transit routes

Hamilton's city council is expanding the sidewalk snow-clearing program to include 783 kilometres morealong transit routes after winter storms.

Thecity's public works committee shot down that option last week, which would have meant the years-long debate wouldn't be allowed to come back again until after the next municipal election.

But Ward 1 Coun. Maureen Wilson re-raised the possibility during Wednesday's city council meeting, saying she was "alittle dumbfounded by those who state they need more information to make a decision."

"This is about who we value and what we value," she said, stressing the mobility issues of people in the community after snowstorms, particularly for seniors.

The city clears 397 out of the 2,445 lane kilometresof municipal sidewalks. In a vote of nine to six, councillorsvoted in favour of the $4.44 million option to add"priority 1 and 2a roadways" all bus routes, but not all residential streets which will be cleared to snow pack conditions with deicing.

That's an incremental increase of $2.34 million to the current program. Brian McMullen, general manager of finance and corporate services, saidthat works out to be a residential tax increase of about $12 on the average home assessed at $380,000.

The earliest the program is expected to start is the fall of 2022, according to general manager of public works Dan McKinnon. Staff will also report back with an implementation plan with more details.

Residents still need to shovel

Sidewalk snow-clearing will only startafter a snowfall that is 5 cm or greater. The city will have 24 hours after it declares the weather event as ended if snowplows head out and the snow starts again, they'll stop and the clock will restart.

Edward Soldo, director of the city's transportation operations, said one-and-a-half metres of wider sidewalks would be cleared.

Residents are still responsible through a city bylaw for shoveling the sidewalks down to bare conditions.

Councillors worry about people's expectations

While snow is the official trigger, if there was an unusual event like an ice storm, McKinnonsaid the city would "use our judgment" on whether it would activate crews for something like deicing.

Ward 11 Coun. Judi Partridge,who voted opposed, said she believed that people's expectations aren't going to be met.

"The city is huge. I think it's unrealistic, and I think we're setting ourresidents up and setting ourselves up to fail on this one," she said.

Ward 13Coun. Arlene VanderBeek, who ultimately voted in favour, echoed her concerns.

"People are struggling," she said. "And now we're going to charge them more money. And we're not going to give them the service they're expecting...we're not going to be able tomeet that expectation, unless we find a way to do all the streets and do them bare."

Soldo said a contractor will likely take on a five-year contract since they would have to invest in equipment to do the job. He also said the city is estimating spending about $100,000 on potential damages to sod on people's lawns, sprinkler heads, flower boxes, and the like.

The city's partial sidewalk-clearing occurs primarily in Ancaster(paid for by the residents), and along municipally-owned property, reverse frontages and school frontages. It was allocated $33.7 million in the 2021 operating budget.