Toronto inundated with calls about sidewalks that are still a mess days after major snowstorm

Residents in some parts of Toronto have taken to clearing stretches of impassable sidewalks themselves days after a major snowstorm.

Officials with the City of Toronto say they know that many sidewalks around the city are still a mess following a major winter storm on Sunday and they are working to clear them.

“Clearly there’s a gap in our performance around sidewalks, and we’re hoping to improve that over the next 24-hour cycle,” City Manager Paul Johnson told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.

He said the city’s 311 service is receiving around 3,000 to 4,000 calls per day and the number one service request being received by the city right now pertains to sidewalk clearing.

“Operationally, we realized that sidewalks have become an issue where we’re just not doing enough. So last night, we started to send more crews out to look at sidewalks,” Johnson said.

Reports from residents around Toronto indicate that many sidewalks are a mucky, uneven mess, or still piled high with snow, making it especially difficult for those with mobility issues to get around.

Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters she’s seen some of the problems herself and said the city is working to add more inspectors and supervisors to check that sidewalks are cleared.

“I know that some sidewalks need attention, and I’ve seen them myself, because the road is very, very narrow some of the streets, and I’ve heard directly from residents,” Chow said.

“I want to be clear; sidewalk plowing is ongoing and we’re not stopping. We are also adding the snow removal operation on top of it, because the streets are so narrow, and our inspectors are out there across the city verifying to make sure that contractors are doing the right kind of work.”

She advised people who see sidewalks that still need to be cleared to call 311 or to visit her website.

The city said some sidewalks have been covered over with snow from multiple rounds of road plowing and crews are being sent back out to re-do those areas.

Johnson, meanwhile, said while the city’s fleet of snow-clearing machines are performing better than last year, not all the machines are operational at once.

“What we’ve done is we’ve increased dramatically our ability to fix the machines and get them back on the road. So we’re cycling through machines as they break down, and getting them back out,” Johnson said.

“We’ve been running at any given day between two thirds and 75 per cent availability of machines.”

The city said in its statement that it is looking at using newer kinds of equipment to improve its sidewalk clearing operations, recognizing it needs equipment that is “powerful, reliable and suited to Toronto’s unique conditions” to do the job properly.

“The performance of mechanical sidewalk plows last winter highlighted the need for improvements, including more robust machinery and extended maintenance support,” the city said.

“Since the current fleet of sidewalk plows was purchased in 2020, new equipment has become available. New models are being piloted this winter to improve the quality and reliability of sidewalk clearing.”

People are being urged to continue reporting messy sidewalks to 311 so that the city knows where it still needs to clear.

Are you dealing with a messy stretch of sidewalk that makes it harder to get around? How is it affecting you? How long has it been?

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