Update on yesterday’s post: I received two responses. Councillor Maggie Burton said she will find answers to my questions but it may take a while. I’ll post them as I get them. Councillor Sandy Hickman said that staff were just getting going because the snow had only ended around 4:00 AM. It is true that more work is still being done on sidewalks but I sent the following response on that:
“I understand your point but the streets were down to bare pavement while there had not been even a preliminary pass on that stretch of sidewalk on Kenmount Rd. by 5:00 PM. Pedestrians and people waiting for the bus had to walk and stand in rush hour traffic as it got dark, the most dangerous time of day. We know that more and more people in the city are using the bus as their primary mode of transportation. The photo below shows the kind of conditions they often have to endure to do so.
The problem is not so much timing as severe under-funding. There is only so much staff can do with inadequate resources. In 2020 former councillor Ian Froude stated that Halifax, for example, spent about twice as much as St. John’s per kilometre on sidewalk clearing even though they receive less than half the snow load. What is our current amount budgeted for sidewalk clearing? This is a budget item that has a severe and indeed life-threatening impact on the lives of many residents of our city.”
Road Rage 