Snow management
Saint John gets over 300 cm of snow a year. The city’s plowing priority structure is right: arterials first, residential last. What falls off the list is what needs work: sidewalks past the priority network, bike lanes in winter, and the driveway windrow that hits seniors hardest.
Where I stand
We have to share the road while sidewalks are snowed in. Where sidewalks are not cleaned, we walk on the road. A road where the speed limit is still 50, where cars slip and slide. “Drive according to road conditions” doesn’t cut it. We have to set guidelines and expectations.
People who rely on the bus will walk to the stops, no matter the sidewalk conditions. Sharing the road doesn’t work on arterials and bus routes. Sidewalks alongside critical routes have to be priority one. People should not walk where the buses drive.
A small but very annoying thing is driveways getting blocked after a plow pass. Plow schedules and locations should be updated and shared live, so home owners can adjust, and not do the work twice.
What I will push for on council
- Service-time targets after a storm, publicly reported: 24 hours for arterials, 48 for residential.
- Sidewalks on bus routes plowed as priority one, before residential streets. Schools, seniors’ housing, and major pedestrian routes follow.
- Winter clearing of bike lanes as part of the active-transportation network, not summer-only.
- A senior-and-disability windrow removal program.
- Fewer lane-kilometres mean faster service on the ones we keep (see Roads and infrastructure).