Cities, sustainable mobility users, and snow
Snow clearance is hard, requires planning, and is maddening when you're trying to get around ("Why can’t Toronto remove snow like Montreal? The answers may surprise you," "No wonder it's taking so long to clear the snow, we planned it that way," Toronto Star).
For many years, around December and later I've written entries about snow clearance in cities that claim to prioritize walking-biking-transit. Rather than recap them, here's a list:
-- "Winter snow clearance in the Walking CIty," 2025
-- "Snow reminds us of the necessity of a "maintenance of way" agenda," 2013
-- "Testimony on the Winter Sidewalk Safety Amendment Act of 2011," 2011
-- "Level of service and maintenance requirements in planning #2: winter maintenance of bike paths," 2012
-- "Night-time safety: rethinking lighting in the context of a walking community," 2014
-- "Planning for Winter Weather," 2015
-- "Cataloging the various failures to remove snow in the walking/transit/bicycling city," 2015
-- "Who knew?: there is a Winter Cycling Federation and annual conference," 2015
-- "Focusing on what's most important: snow on sidewalks or snow on cars?," 2016
-- "Winter preparedness, planning and the Walking/Biking/Transit City," 2019
-- "Walking City Wintertime: Snow and strollers in Toronto," 2019
I haven't been motivated to do so much this year because Salt Lake's Valley, and even the mountains although that's changing, has gotten so little snow that a shovel has been unnecessary.
Although this photo from the Washington Post keeps reminding me.
Many of Salt Lake's bus stops are just uncovered benches while Calgary and other cities like Winnipeg ("'If you're waiting for a bus, it is brutal' but should the city invest in heated shelters or service?," CBC) have enclosed bus shelters that are heated in the winter.
Montreal has a special network of winter cycle paths that they commit to keeping clear after snow storms. Arlington Virginia has a program promoting winter cycling. Many communities, including DC and Montgomery County for the Capital Crescent Trail, have snow clearance programs for trails. Minneapolis was one of the first cities to include maintenance of way as an element of its bicycle master plan. Salt Lake and many cities have a winter Bike to Work Day.
Toronto has introduced some heated shelters, with the justification that they make it easier for disabled users to use regular transit ("TTC installs 16 new heated and enclosed bus shelters," Toronto Star).
Apparently, Pittsburgh isn't getting a lot of snow, but like my blog entries, the mayor is trying to plan ahead after clearance failures ("Mayor outlines snow removal concerns," "One-third of Pittsburgh's plows were unavailable during weekend snowstorm: 'We have to invest in our fleet'," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
Similarly, the Boston Globe editorializes, "The disappearing snowplow," in support of state legislation providing financial incentives for snowplow operators so that they continue to operate.
Toronto failed spectacularly with snow clearance last year, and this year doesn't look to be better ("Toronto could make snow clearing significantly better, report finds. But the city says it can’t afford to," Toronto Star, 2025 Winter Storm Response and Winter Maintenance Program Review: Recommendations and Implementation Plan).
According to the new report from Oakville-based consultants Municipal VU Consulting Inc., a system that offers “the fastest cleanup and the highest level of service reliability” would be the most expensive, at $130 million a year, $94.4 million of which accounts for having extra staff and equipment on standby.
A lot of the coverage on last year's problems in Toronto focused on how inadequate snow clearance makes it especially hard for the disabled and those with children to get around ("People with mobility issues struggle to navigate sidewalks as cities rush to clear snow," "The magic of the snow is gone. Now we’re left with unplowed streets, dog-yellowed piles and road salt in our hair," Toronto Star).
Other reports state schools stay closed "longer than they need to" partly because lack of snow clearance makes it hard for kids to walk to school ("Students' choice: Walk in the road or walk on the snow-covered sidewalk," Fox13).
This year, I hope the cities to the east of Utah are doing better on snow clearance for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users.
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Dealing with blizzards can be more than a matter of sustainable mobility, it can be about emergency management more generally and physical safety ("Buffalo Leaders Weren’t Ready for Blizzard That Killed 31, Report Says," NYT).
Five months after a blizzard devastated western New York, killing 31 residents of Buffalo, a report released on Friday cited multiple failures in the ci
Emergency warnings from city officials did not adequately convey how life-threatening the storm would be, the report said. City officials didn’t spread the word about the county’s travel ban for cars quickly enough and didn’t adequately stress the dangers of walking outside. And as the storm raged on, coordination between city, county and state officials became strained.
... The city’s response did not take into account the economic disparities that have existed in Buffalo for decades, they said. Those inequities meant, for instance, that many low-income residents could not afford to stock up on extra food before the blizzard, and as a result, risked driving or even walking out into the snow to get supplies for Christmas dinner.
Labels: car culture and automobility, disability planning, emergency management planning, nightlife economy, pedestrian safety, public space management, snow removal, transportation planning, urban design/placemaking
posted by Richard Layman @ 8:00 AM&Permanent Link
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Heavy snowfall just wreaked havoc on Toronto’s trains and roads. Why Canada’s biggest city isn’t winter-proofed
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/heavy-snowfall-just-wreaked-havoc-on-toronto-s-trains-and-roads-why-canada-s-biggest/article_eefff3fe-5c38-45f0-9392-d391c66a599e.html
Some of the city’s winter transportation troubles come with living in a Canadian city, but as Toronto gets more extreme weather events because of climate change, experts say the city needs to think more about how it prepares for extreme weather like Thursday’s snowstorm.
But knowing worsening weather events might be inevitable doesn’t help lessen the frustration felt by commuters when lines like the Finch West LRT are shut down for long stretches.
For the Line 6 especially, winter weather has been devastating. Problems with the line’s switch heaters, which melt snow and ice allowing the train to switch tracks, have repeatedly disrupted service.
It’s especially frustrating when Toronto’s much older downtown streetcar network — though struggling with its own problems with speediness — operates through snowy conditions. Transit riders on Finch Avenue on Thursday drove past the silent $3.5-billion line in shuttle buses.
Last time Toronto had this much snow it was a mess. Here’s how the city changed the way it tackles winter weather
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/last-time-toronto-had-this-much-snow-it-was-a-mess-here-s-how-the/article_45e0c7a3-afab-47eb-ba0f-9c13a54a7397.html
The extra $130 million the consultants’ report recommended for the best snow clearing operations would largely have gone to pay to have extra staff and equipment on standby.
Because Toronto doesn’t typically get repeated major snowstorms every year the way, say, Montreal does, it didn’t have either the extra staff on standby nor the formal guidelines for a “surge plan” to escalate its clearing efforts as the snow piled up.
Now it does have a surge plan — finalized last month — that details how additional city staff can be deployed.
There are up to 200 additional city staff and 75 pieces of equipment from various departments that can be redeployed to clear snow, inspect snow contractors’ routes and tow cars parked illegally on snow routes. Last year, the municipality called on just 50 extra staff.
Will Johnston, a deputy city manager, told reporters Thursday the plows out on the sidewalks are the same ones they had problems with last year. But, “we’ve added additional resources in our maintenance facilities — we have our mechanics staffed up and we also have surge protection around parts,” he said, adding they’ve also extended maintenance hours so that repairing plows, if needed, can be done more quickly.
Previously, snow removal — which is separate from plowing and requires trucking snow to storage and melting sites — began when snow piles caused blockages or storage on city streets reached capacity.
Starting this winter, snow removal was supposed to start after 8 cm had accumulated in areas where limited snow storage capacity could impact safety, transit or emergency services.
New winter unit
The city has created a dedicated year-round winter operations unit made up of 18 staff positions (10 new and eight existing that were repurposed) at an estimated cost of $1.3 million. The new unit is headed by Myles Currie, previously retired from the city, who is now the new acting director of winter and seasonal services.
According to a city report, the unit “should co-ordinate all aspects of winter readiness year-round, including plan development, mapping, training, contract oversight and interdivisional drills.”
On Thursday, Chow said this new unit, which co-ordinates operations through a central command hub, along with first responders and other city agencies will be a game-changer.
“The reporting structure is cleaner, more streamlined,” she said. “The key difference this time is we’re co-ordinated and we’re collaborating.”
Almost half of city-owned sidewalk snowplows broke down during February snowstorms, says report
Almost half of the city’s sidewalk snowplows needed repairs at any given time during last month’s snowstorms, hampering efforts to clear clogged pedestrian walkways downtown.
Out of the city’s fleet of 59, only about 35 sidewalk plows on average were available “due to running repairs on assets throughout the operation,” according to a new report from the city manager, which is expected to be part of a larger debate at council this week on the municipality’s winter maintenance plan.
There are 330 sidewalk plows used to clear the 7,900 kilometres of public sidewalks in Toronto. The 59 owned by the city mostly clear the downtown sidewalks — the rest are owned by private contractors.
There’s one thing we should remember every time a severe snowstorm hits
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/theres-one-thing-we-should-remember-every-time-a-severe-snowstorm-hits/article_87ad8867-0e87-4a6f-966a-379bca3a5fe5.html
Toronto has botched its approaches to protect vulnerable people during extreme weather.
Here we go again. Toronto’s annual open-and-shut Band-Aid operation of emergency shelters for inclement weather.
Toronto has opened its five winter warming centres for unhoused people as temperatures drop to —5°C, drawing an average of 250 people each night. Additional surge sites will open today but not til at 5 p.m., when the temperature reaches —15°C. Those numbers will shoot up to roughly 300. The sites are already overcrowded, operating at more than 100 per cent capacity. They are repeatedly opened and closed based solely on temperature, not on actual shelter need.
When summer arrives, the city will launch its 2026 Heat Relief Strategy, which includes a single 24/7 downtown cooling centre to be open during heat alerts. This somewhat miserly move is a hollow victory. In 2019, the city shut down all dedicated cooling centres and replaced them with the Orwellian sounding “Heat Relief Network” — a patch work of libraries, swimming and wading pools and shopping centres — none of which operate overnight, offer cots, meals or the means to shower.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-01-26/storm-recovery-that-s-a-job-for-a-community-tool-library
Storm Recovery? That’s a Job for a Tool Library
After Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina in September 2024, Kevin Miller fired up his old chainsaw and spent hours sawing through trunks and limbs of downed trees. The toll was enormous: The storm had flooded homes, blocked roads and toppled electric lines, leaving millions without power or clean water. “I was just awestruck,” recalled Miller, a carpenter who lives in the mountain town of Weaverville, 10 miles north of Asheville. “I got in my truck and started driving, but I couldn’t get anywhere.”
By the time Miller had managed to clear a path into town, his chainsaw’s blade was dull. Down at the local community center, he found a mobile setup of the Asheville Tool Library and its West North Carolina Repair Cafe. On tailgates and folding tables in the parking lot, volunteers were at work, fixing power tools and rehabbing emergency equipment like generators. In short order, workers there tuned up his saw and replaced the chain with a sharp one from their truck. “Basically, they made the thing run like the day you bought it off the shelf,” Miller said.
The sharing economy isn’t just about saving money: It also makes a useful foundation for disaster relief. “The institution itself of a tool library means that the community is thinking about how to help each other,” said Daniel Aldrich, a researcher and co-founder of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University.
In a crisis like a major storm, community-led responses are often more important than government action: Drawing on data and interviews with survivors of dozens of disasters worldwide, Aldrich found that having strong community networks and a high density of service organizations leads people to stay in an area and rebuild instead of picking up and leaving. By contrast, communities that rely on government action suffer greater population loss.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/japanese-journal-of-political-science/article/how-social-infrastructure-saves-lives-a-quantitative-analysis-of-japans-311-disasters/4BD3AA196B334A23F0B749E85AE4E38F
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