Sudbury struggles to clear sidewalks after record-breaking snowfall

Greater Sudbury is still digging out from the historic snowfall a week ago, leaving many sidewalks completely covered.

Sudbury resident Andrew Clark is without a car and told CTV News that it has been difficult navigating area sidewalks.

“Every time a car stops, I stop on the side, wait for it to go,” he said.

Clark said he’s been more concerned about accessibility for those who are disabled and seniors.

“The elderly that have appointments or they’re running out of food because I know many of them that I know shop day to day and now their fridges are barely full,” he said.

“There’s an elderly woman I just spoke to, and she was asking if the sidewalk was plowed over there, like, so she can go to her appointment.”

Joe Rocca, the director of linear services with the City of Greater Sudbury, said last week’s efforts were focused on safety, in terms of improving access for emergency services.

“This is the largest snowfall amount we’ve had in 70 years,” he said.

“When you add on the freezing rain that we got as well and that crust that it created it, it’s created, an operational challenge for us to kind of move all the snow – our traditional snow plowing equipment wasn’t really effective at all.”

On Sunday, crews began working on sidewalks closer to area schools.

“We needed to focus on widening the roads because, inevitably, we plow from the middle of the road out,” he said.

“The snow from the road was going into the sidewalks and now we’re moving that snow out of the sidewalk.”

Rocca told CTV News it’s a combined effort between the city and the Sudbury Student Services Consortium.

“It’s still a big task ahead,” said Rocca.

“We’re going to get the secondary school sidewalks opened up first, and then we’re going to look at maybe, opening up sidewalks along our major roadways next.”

However, Rocca said these plans are “subject to change” depending on what efforts are needed to get school buses back on the road.

Rocca said there isn’t an exact timeline for when residents can expect neighbourhoods to be cleared out, but he said the city is using all its available resources.

“We have really leaned into the contractor community and, you know, really leverage their resources and their staff to help us dig out,” he said.

“You know, we’re up to over 160 pieces of equipment, deployed throughout the community. When you compare that to a typical storm response where we have 80, it gives you some perspective.”

On a post on X, the Greater Sudbury Police Service said it is encouraging motorists to watch out for pedestrians as the city works to continue its snow-clearing efforts.