I tried the better way after last snow fall and it was a f&%king disaster. Sidewalks not cleared so it was necessary to walk on the roads, to get on and off buses you had to climb over 2-3 foot snowbanks, waiting 30 minutes for a bus then having 3-4 buses right behind, sidestreets plowed leaving 5-6 foot snowbanks at the end of the streets where they met major arterial roads, etc. etc.
The city that walks, slips and falls TheStar.com - News - The city that walks, slips and falls
Politicians keep urging us to leave cars at home, but it's no easy task with snow-clogged sidewalks
February 10, 2008
Brett PopplewellStaff Reporter Toronto: A city that wants more people to walk rather than drive, clears the driving surfaces they would prefer we not use, within hours of any snowfall. But the sidewalks often remain snow-clogged and surrounded by mountains of nigh-on-impassable snow for days.
Four days after the last major snowfall many of the city's sidewalks are either still covered in snow, cut off by snow, or have turned into slip-and-slide skating rinks and slush puddles thanks to melting snow.
Yesterday afternoon as snow turned to rain and temperatures rose above freezing, the uncleared snow left on city sidewalks slowly melted into pond-sized puddles at several pedestrian crossings.
In the Annex, pedestrians were walking alongside Bloor St. traffic in order to side-step a veritable lake at the corner of Bloor and Brunswick Ave.
Later, at the corner of Huron and Cecil Sts. a man helped an elderly woman carrying grocery bags step over a foot-high snow barrier so that she wouldn't have to wade through a large puddle lapping against the edge of the sidewalk.
Joanne Nadeau, who lives near Danforth Ave., says the elderly seem to have a particularly difficult time on the city's sidewalks these days.
"I live in a 160-year-old coach house and from there I can see everything that goes on. Elderly people have trouble crossing the street because of the slush," Nadeau said.
Yesterday in Liberty Village and on Front St. near Spadina Ave., some sidewalks looked like nature paths as pedestrians worked hard to step in the footprints left by the few intrepid trailblazers who had bothered to cut through the snow instead of giving up and walking down the street.
The City of Toronto has a Pedestrian Committee that is supposed to work for improved pedestrian safety – but that hasn't satisfied residents who continue to navigate the slush, snow and puddles.
"With (Wednesday's) snowstorm the sidewalks seemed to be cleared before the streets. But what with the snow banks, I either have to walk to the end of the street or jump over them to get across," said pedestrian Kim Chow.
Jian Wong lives in an apartment and counts herself lucky for not having to shovel a laneway or sidewalk. But this week, her daughter was sick and the sidewalks were so clogged with snow, she said, that she couldn't use the stroller to take her daughter to the clinic.
The situation has even caused one Toronto resident, Mike Nemiroff, to coin the phrase `Snow Moval' – what the City of Toronto does instead of snow removal.
Isolated flurries and low temperatures today and tomorrow will likely add more snow to the city's sidewalks and cause yesterday's puddles to freeze into ice.
With files from Elvira Cordileone
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