By Dominic Abassi

City inundated with calls after snow-covered sidewalks create dangerous conditions

Feb 15, 2019 | 10:41 AM

NANAIMO — After more than 50 centimetres of snow hammered Nanaimo this week, there’s a growing call for the City to turn some attention to clearing sidewalks.

Pictures flooded social media this week showing kilometres of treacherous terrain on local sidewalks. Those images included children forced to walk in the middle of roads to get to school, people trudging up downtown hills in the midst of traffic and inaccessible bus stops on main routes like Bowen Rd.

Shane McConnell, who has been volunteering to help local seniors for over 30 years, said he’s personally witnessed many of Nanaimo’s most vulnerable being completely isolated or incapable of traversing the sidewalks to get critical things like food and medicine.

He said many of them don’t drive and rely on walking or mobility devices.

“City Hall needs to start thinking of these seniors that don’t have any family. Nobody is helping them out. The only way they can go and get food for themselves is to pay for a taxi, but these are people on fixed incomes and they can’t afford things like that,” McConnell said.

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Several local seniors were forced to use their meager funds this week to pay kids to clear their sidewalks, he said.

McConnell was asked if the relatively rare occurrence of heavy snow on the coast gave the City a pass for not dealing with the issue.

“A couple of times is too many,” he responded.

The City’s current bylaw dictates individual property owners are responsible for clearing sidewalks adjacent to their homes and businesses. People can be fined for not doing so in a timely fashion, but such a punishment happens rarely or not at all.

Dave LaBerge, the City’s community safety manager, said the approach of the bylaw, which pre-dates his time with the City, is basically that significant snow events are rare and the hope is citizens will be “good community stewards” and clear sidewalks.

LaBerge said there are roughly 325 kilometres of sidewalk in Nanaimo and the reality is the City does not have the manpower or equipment to clear them and deal with emergency and bus routes at the same time. They’ve been inundated with calls and emails about the matter this week, he said.

“We have to strike a balance. We have to be patient and understand it’s relatively rare,” LaBerge said.

“Ya, we could create a lot more equipment and infrastructure but then that’s going to come with a cost that’s going to come down to higher taxes, which nobody wants. On the other hand, somebody might say ‘I have a wheelchair and I can’t get around in these conditions and it’s a real imperative we do this.’ That’s a valid position as well.”

He said it’s not practical to expect community members to handle all the sidewalks, noting several challenges he’s witnessed himself this week.

“Privately contracted plows pushing all the snow from one area and it starts to accumulate on the walkways. You now expect a private citizen to clear that packed ice off the footpaths? I don’t know if that’s always practical.”

As for enforcement against those who don’t clear their sidewalks, LaBerge said that also creates challenges. The bylaw department is traditionally thin on staff and it would be nearly impossible to equitably hand out tickets.

Aaron Dixon, a masters student in transportation planning at Vancouver Island University, said it seems the current approach doesn’t consider the fact at some point in everyone’s daily journey and routine, they’re a pedestrian.

“So clearing sidewalks really affects everybody,” Dixon said. “This week has been a really good test for seeing how low down on the ladder pedestrians really are in this city. I’ve seen and experienced a lot of walking in the middle of the street.”

Dixon said the “person” needs to be prioritized more, pointing out sidewalk-specific snowplows exist and are used in many other municipalities.

He said it’s interesting to see the obsession with plowing roadways in a part of the world where most drivers aren’t skilled or mechanically prepared to drive in winter conditions.

“I think it lures unskilled drivers onto the roads when most of us are off work or don’t have school anyway. There’s all of a sudden a huge wave of us who want to be pedestrians and I think walking is the most dependable form of transportation in events like this. So the City needs to listen to that and prioritize sidewalks.”

He also said the way snow-narrowed roads are still safely passable by cars is visual proof how much space there could be for things like sidewalks and bike lanes.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi