On Wednesday, St. John’s city council finally took a step in the right direction about sidewalk snowclearing, moving ahead with a plan that actually looks like it took the needs of those who use sidewalks into consideration.
For years, the rules for sidewalk snowclearing seemed as if they had been devised by someone looking out at sidewalks from the driver’s seat of a city pickup truck — or from the toasty confines of an office, with a city map spread out on top of a desk.
Existing snowclearing routes saw a vast majority of the city’s 161 kilometres of plowed sidewalks designated for Priority 1 clearing — but, as we’ve pointed out before, if everything’s your first priority, nothing is, really. Major routes saw sidewalks cleared on both sides, or routes partially cleared on both sides, or routes cleared and suddenly halted midway through.
The haphazard way Priority 1 streets were plowed meant walkers had no way to plan a consistent route to work or school — your route, though Priority 1, might be plowed, or some other part of the vast Priority 1 network might have been chosen instead. A route that might be cleared quickly after one storm could be left for days after another.
The Telegram’s Juanita Mercer reports that the new plan will reduce the number of Priority 1 routes: “The change will essentially be made by only clearing sidewalks on one side of the street for Priority 1 streets, but clearing them in such a way that they’re connected in a system so pedestrians can still get from Point A to Point B.
The haphazard way Priority 1 streets were plowed meant walkers had no way to plan a consistent route to work or school …
“School zones will get top priority, with sidewalks on both sides of the street cleared as usual. Then Priority 1 sidewalks would include the first side of arterial roads and the downtown business district; Priority 2 would include the second side of multi-lane arterial roads and the downtown business district, and the first side of collector streets; Priority 3 would include the second side of remaining arterial roads with both sides serviced; and Priority 4 would include the second side of collector streets with both sides serviced, and any remaining sections of sidewalk in the program.”
In other words, a focus on giving connected, effective access for sidewalk users.
Some parts of the plan obviously still need fine-tuning — especially having Priority 1 plowing on only one side of downtown business district streets — but the focus on what walkers actually need is a huge step in the right direction.
Next step?
Maybe finding a way to co-ordinate street and sidewalk plows, so that sidewalks aren’t cleared down to the concrete, only to be filled back in again by street plows minutes later.
A final vote on the plan at council is expected in the next few weeks.
