'A little bit treacherous': Ice-covered sidewalks in Kitchener causing unsafe conditions for residents

The up-and-down temperatures seen across Waterloo Region over the last couple of weeks have turned Kitchener sidewalks into sheets of ice.

It’s made getting around a lot trickier for some residents.

“It’s been a little bit treacherous,” said Chivonne Monaghan, who was out walking her dog Thursday morning.

She says some sidewalks are so slippery, she’s had to walk her dog on the road.

“It’s either that, or you risk a slip and fall on the sidewalks,” said Monaghan.

For people living with disabilities, the ice is acting as an extra barrier.

“It’s super frustrating and you never know where it’s going to happen,” said Edward Faruzel, executive director at KW AccessAbility. “My biggest fear is getting stuck somewhere.”

The City of Kitchener says it’s up to everyone to clear snow and ice within 24 hours of a weather event. City staff are in charge of clearing sidewalks in front of its properties in the downtown core. Meanwhile, homeowners and businesses must clear sidewalks in front of their own properties.

If the sidewalk isn’t cleared within 24 hours, bylaw officials will hand out a warning that it must be cleared within another 24 hours. If nothing changes, the city will send a crew to clean up, but the homeowner or business will receive an invoice for the work that was done.

“It's great in principle to rely people to clear their sidewalks,” said Faruzel. “(But) I think there needs to be some sort of a mechanism in place.”

The city did try to see what taking on the responsibility of clearing all sidewalks would look like. Through a pilot project from 2019 to 2020, city staff determined it was not ready for that task because there is a finite number of stuff, and a limited amount of equipment.

The city determined a community approach, where everyone is responsible, would get the ice cleared quicker.

Here are the protocols for clearing sidewalks in the City of Waterloo and the City of Cambridge:

CITY OF WATERLOO

The responsibility for sidewalk clearance is shared. In general:

• The city clears sidewalks not connected to a residence or business
• Property owners clear sidewalks connected to a residence or business

The city clears city-maintained sidewalks using standards set out in the Municipal Act, which generally require clearance within 48 hours of the end of a snow or ice storm. Areas with highest pedestrian traffic are given priority after a snow event.

If a sidewalk is not cleared within 24 hours after a snowfall ends, you have two options to request follow up:

Report online

Enter the address(es) into our online reporting system to immediately notify a bylaw officer. This option requires setting up an account with our online services portal.

The request is tracked and you will be able to view its status.

Report by phone

Contact municipal enforcement at 519-747-8785, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

 

CITY OF CAMBRIDGE

Keeping sidewalks clear and safe for all residents is a joint effort between the City and the community. Property owners or occupants are required to clear snow and ice from the sidewalks at the front and side of their property within 36 hours of a snowfall.

The city performs winter maintenance operations on some sidewalks and walkways to:

• Reduce the hazards of icy, snow-covered sidewalk conditions to the community
• Maintain safe, passable routes for pedestrians
• Maintain paved routes to winter recreation areas
• Comply with all applicable legislation
• Reduce economic losses to the community and industry caused by delays during icy, snow-covered sidewalk conditions
• Reduce the impact on the environment and the drinking water supply through proper storage, use and disposal of road salt and associated de-icing and anti-icing chemicals
• Except for sidewalks located in one of the three BIA districts (downtown core), the City of Cambridge is responsible for clearing sidewalks when they meet any of the following criteria:
• Curb-faced sidewalks (sidewalks next to the curb face or located not more than 0.25 m from the curb face)
• Back-lot sidewalks (sidewalks located next to the rear lot line of a property)
• Sidewalks in front of properties owned and managed by the City of Cambridge
• All sidewalks along regional roads
• Street to street walkways (easements that lead to and connect from one street or neighborhood to another)
• Street to park walkways (easements that lead to and connect from the street to a park with paved pathways connected within it)
• To report an issue with sidewalk clearing, call [phone] during regular business hours 8:30am to 4:30pm or report it online.