Sudbury wants feedback on how to handle sidewalk maintenance in winter

The City of Greater Sudbury is asking for feedback regarding sidewalk maintenance during the winter.

Residents are asked to fill out an online survey containing five options, which are to be ranked in order of preference:

• Begin sidewalk plowing at 5 cm instead of 8 cm of snow accumulation;
• Priority sidewalk winter maintenance on non-residential, main routes;
• 24/7 sidewalk winter maintenance;
• private/public partnership for sidewalk winter maintenance;
• or No changes.

The city said it compiled information from a previous survey conducted in August 2021.

Brittany Hallam with the city told CTV News they did not receive much of a response during that time, as it was nearing the end of summer.

Hallam said now that it’s the middle of winter, the city is hopeful they will receive more feedback.

“We’re going to get that engagement from people, to really take an interest and their issues are going to be top of mind, because they’re thinking of it, because they’re dealing with it every day,” she said.

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Maria Bozzo represents a local group, Greater Sudbury Safer Sidewalks. She said the group has been calling for improved sidewalk maintenance during the winter for years.

“People need to get around, residents need to get around and they need to get around 12 months of the year,” Bozzo said.

“Unfortunately with the current standards, that’s not happening.”

The group was founded in the fall of 2020. Bozzo said she suffered a broken arm from a fall, while she was walking on a sidewalk outside her home.

“As I did more work, more research into it, I found falls are quite common in people over 65,” she said. “They cause quite a few health issues afterward.”

Bozzo said the group has been calling for the city to reduce the amount of snowfall required before plowing the sidewalks to two centimetres. The current standard is five centimetres. They also called for sidewalks and intersections to be sanded, salted and cleared.

“There also needed to be work done so that the street plows didn’t knock the banks into the sidewalks, especially after they’ve been plowed,” said Bozzo.

The group said they will be holding a meeting in early March to discuss the survey options and all are welcome to attend.

Residents have until March 24 to complete the survey.

Bozzo said they will post more details on the group’s Facebook page and encourage all residents to fill out the survey.