The snow piled up along the sidewalks near Rob Roy’s home poses a serious challenge for the 50-year-old with mobility issues.
Roy tells CTV News Toronto he suffers from partial paralysis, causing difficulties walking on sidewalks even on a regular day. The snowfall still left behind in the wake of the major winter storm in Toronto has made it challenging for Roy to make it to his medical appointments.
“I’ve been basically doing what most seniors do, just staying home because it’s the safest place for me,” Roy said.
“The city needs to take into consideration every winter that the seniors and people with disabilities have a right to be out doing their regular, daily routines, but don’t need to be having this difficulty getting around.”
While days have passed since a major winter storm dumped nearly 60 centimetres of snow on Toronto, several sidewalks remain to be cleared of the aftermath, leaving some Torontonians frustrated.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, City Manager Paul Johnson said there have been between 3,000 and 4,000 311 calls daily in the wake of the major winter storm, noting how the number one request for service at that time pertained to sidewalk clearing.
“Operationally, we realized that sidewalks have become an issue where we’re just doing enough,” Johnson said. “So, last night, we started to send more crews out to look at sidewalks.”
- READ MORE: Toronto inundated with calls about sidewalks that are still a mess days after major snowstorm
This most recent snowstorm and how the city has cleared its walks in its wake is not a one-off, Roy says, recounting a time he felt forced to go into a live lane of traffic because the sidewalks had “more than a foot of snow.”
“If I have to walk in a live lane of traffic for the purpose of not falling, then that means they’re not doing the job correctly,” Roy said.
Rosana Paniccia says she hasn’t seen any efforts from the city to clear the snow off the sidewalks on the residential street she lives near Lansdowne Avenue and Dufferin Street, nor by the place she works along The Queensway.
“I complained about that this morning. I called 311,” Paniccia said in an interview with CTV News Toronto on Thursday morning. “It’s a disaster, but they don’t care. This happens every time there’s a major snowstorm.”
The snow-slicked sidewalks have made it “extremely difficult” for Paniccia to get around.
“The snow is so high, it’s frozen, it’s uneven, and walking on it, my feet twist. I almost fell twice yesterday,” Paniccia said.
Paniccia first called 311 on Tuesday, recalling how she was told the snow would be shovelled off the walks by Friday at the latest. The lack of action, in Paniccia’s view, has made her feel frustrated with the city.
“Why are they not clearing them? They just pass by with these big trucks—I saw them once—just to flatten it a bit, but they’re not removing the snow,” Paniccia said. “They haven’t salted, they haven’t done a thing … what are they getting paid for?”
This most recent snowstorm and how the city has cleared its walks in its wake is not a one-off, Roy says, recounting a time he felt forced to go into a live lane of traffic because the sidewalks had “more than a foot of snow.”
“If I have to walk in a live lane of traffic for the purpose of not falling, then that means they’re not doing the job correctly,” Roy said.
Stefani Morra also called into question the city’s priorities in what parts of the road get cleared first, as she noticed bike lanes on her way to work were free from snow while the sidewalks next to them were still caked with it.
“Given the volume of snow that fell in a short period of time, I think the snow removal on the roads seemed reasonable … but when you see things like bike lanes being cleared before sidewalks, I mean, that’s just unjustified,” Morra told CTV News Toronto on Thursday.
“Certain things should be prioritized and I don’t think clearing bike lanes is justified when pedestrians can’t walk on the sidewalk, people can’t park in the parking lots at the GO stations or the TTC.”
Osman Omar, who lives in Toronto’s east end, was bewildered to see how snow-clearing efforts swallowed his vehicle.
“I don’t know if it’s a sidewalk plow or somebody had shovelled the snow on top of the car,” Omar said, recounting the moment he left his home on Monday and tried to locate his vehicle on the street. It took about an hour to remove the snow from his car.
“That was only Monday, but even today, I still see a lot of spots that are not shovelled, snowbanks that are like seven, six feet tall,” Omar said. “You can’t really get in and, sometimes, you can’t even park your car by the curb and get into your house.”
The mayor has acknowledged seeing some of the problems herself and said the city is working to add more inspectors to ensure the sidewalks are cleared.
“I want to be clear: sidewalk plowing is ongoing and we’re not stopping,” Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters on Wednesday.
The city also said that it is considering newer kinds of equipment to improve snow clearing effots on sidewalks, noting how it needs the right kind of equipment “suited to Toronto’s unique conditions.”
With files from CP24’s Joshua Freeman
