Barb Saylor’s comments from last week about the state of sidewalks around transit terminals got me to wondering, so I contacted the city’s manager of winter maintenance, Kevin Faul, via the electrical-mail, and he filled me in on some sidewalk-clearing details.
First off, it is the city’s responsibility to clear the sidewalks around transit terminals. At the Cornwall Centre transfer point, though, the mall does the shovelling while the city helps out by clearing snow ridges and doing some of the sanding.
Also, it looks like with the changes to the Winter Maintenance Policy going before council tonight, maintenance crews will have a clearer trigger for when sidewalk clearing should be done: If approved, the work will start if there’s been a 5cm or greater snowfall.
I also asked about sanding at the transit terminals and it sounds like it’s at the discretion of the crew doing the clearing whether or not that’s necessary. Here’s some of what Kevin had to say:
In regard to sanding the walks we maintain, crews check these locations regularly and maintain as required, we would also follow up by checking any request for service that may come in through the City’s 777-7000 call centre and forwarded to our area.
One thing he pointed out is that generally clearing the sidewalks at bus stops is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner. So, it would seem that there are times when I’ve gotten all piqued at the city for leaving a bus stop buried under a carpet of snow when in fact it’s a nearby strip mall (that will remain nameless) that I should’ve been pissed off at. Good to know.
