Vancouver City Councillor wants more to be done to remove snow and ice from pedestrian areas
Posted January 15, 2020 6:07 pm.
Last Updated January 16, 2020 5:28 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As Vancouver tries to dig itself out of the latest dumping of snow, one councillor wants the city to do a better job for all the pedestrians in the area.
Sarah Kirby-Yung says she wants city staff to take another look at Vancouver’s ‘snow removal protocol’ and see if there are any positive changes that can be made for those who have to walk to work.
“Right now the snow response protocol allows for clearing of main arterial roads as well as 15 priority by groups, but there is no priority placed on pedestrian areas and I think as the City of Vancouver is looking to shift modes and we have a complete street strategy,” she says. “You think about pedestrian safety and people’s ability to get around when we have an increasing amount of these extreme weather incidents, it’s really important that we look at the access for pedestrians as well.”
Kirby-Yung says when it comes to travelling in the cold, icy weather pedestrians shouldn’t be left behind.
“My priority right now is pedestrians because I think that’s the gap that we have in the response protocol. Right now we have an extreme weather incident, that’s tough for any municipality to deal with. It is treated differently in other areas. The City of Toronto does clear sidewalks as well. So it’s not taking responsibility away from the private owners, but it’s really looking at some of those key studio dairies and major pedestrian pathways to make sure that people can get through safely where they need to go.”
She also wants to explore whether any new equipment could better tackle pedestrian areas, like sidewalks and bike lanes, adding it’s something that some city staff have already said City Hall should be investing in.
“There are salt trucks there and there are a couple of smaller pieces of equipment that are specific and appropriate for bike lanes,” she says. “One comment is that we haven’t really invested in new equipment and it would be interesting to look at the equipment that is appropriate for pedestrian areas. I would just like us to take a look at it to make sure that we are emergency response plans are sort of response to this day can be two different modes of travel.”
She plans to bring the motion forward at a council meeting on January 20th.
