Mayor orders review of Toronto’s ‘unacceptable’ snow clearing after back-to-back storms
Mayor Olivia Chow says she’s ordered a review of Toronto’s snow clearing and removal operations, calling the state of the city’s roads and sidewalks “unacceptable” more than a week after after the GTA was hit by two winter storms.
Chow said she’s particularly frustrated with how much snow still remains on many of the city’s sidewalks after she was “repeatedly told” by city officials that they had been completely cleared.
“It is obvious that the sidewalk is not 100 per cent plowed. I don’t know what percentage is, but claiming that 100 per cent is plowed is blatantly untrue.”
Chow said she sent a letter Tuesday to City Manager Paul Johnson and Toronto’s auditor general, asking them to immediately review options to improve snow plowing and removal policies and practices.
The review will include looking at how to optimize the city’s existing resources and equipment, and its contracts for winter maintenance work, which could lead to renegotiating or breaking those contracts, Chow said.
“This is just unacceptable. We need to do more. We need to do better,” she said.
“All Torontonians deserve to move around the city safely.”
Chow said the issue will be discussed by her executive committee at their next meeting.
Contract concerns
The city’s current snow removal contracts were approved in 2021 in a deal that was pushed through quickly by council after a staff reported suggested there would be a safety risk for citizens if it wasn’t approved immediately.
CBC Toronto began reporting on issues with the snow clearing service the companies provided the following winter, when the city spent $26.4 million more than planned on winter maintenance and Toronto’s snow-clearing operations were plagued by equipment and personnel shortages.
Scarborough Coun. Paul Ainslie said when the contracts were being considered, he raised concerns that they would lead to “a raft of issues” with snow clearing and removal in the city.
“And every winter I go out … and it’s not getting any better,” he said.
“Things have to change. People expect … value for their money. They want their tax dollars to work.”
The Toronto Transit Commission was also asked to look at its response to extreme weather events at a TTC board meeting Monday.
The motion from TTC Chair Coun. Jamaal Myers and Coun. Josh Matlow asked TTC staff to look into some of the issues that have plagued the transit system since storms rolled into the city earlier this month, including large banks of snow piling up around transit stops, issues with the above-grade portions of Line 1 and 2, and parked cars blocking streetcars.
In an update on Monday, the City of Toronto said that more than 100,000 tonnes of snow have been removed from the city so far, with clearing prioritized for main streets with transit routes, areas with hospitals, sidewalks and school bus loading zones.
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