Proposal that could limit residential snowplowing gets cold shoulder from some Winnipeggers
Pilot starting in fall 2025 would see residential streets plowed after 15 cm of snow instead of 10 cm
All some Winnipeggers could do Wednesday was let out a sigh or groan in frustration after hearing about a pilot project that would see the city increase the amount of snowfall required before plowing residential streets.
The citywide pilot project — which would start in fall 2025 — was proposed in the draft of Winnipeg's 2025 budget unveiled Wednesday.
Under the pilot, the city would see if it saves any money by waiting for 15 centimetres of snow to fall on residential streets before plowing begins. The current threshold for snow clearing on residential streets is 10 centimetres.
"The city needs to reconsider that," said Justine Dela Cruz, speaking outside his former home on Sherburn Street Wednesday.
He's concerned it could become even more challenging to park on front streets if snow builds up.
"I think our population is growing, more cars are being bought, and our residential [streets] are getting full with vehicles," said Dela Cruz. "It's very inconvenient."
Amanda Rose, who spoke to CBC nearby on Garfield Street N., shared that sentiment.
"I hope that enough Winnipeggers say, 'We don't want a pilot, we need you guys to plow the roads,'" said Rose.
She said the street already doesn't get plowed often enough, so she'll shovel out some of the area in front of her elderly neighbour's home, in case an ambulance needs to park there in the event of an emergency.
It's something she's done "every year for, like, 10 years," she said.
Earlier in the day, Rose had to help a friend who damaged her car's back axle and two tires after getting stuck on a road that hadn't been plowed near Logan Avenue.
"Ten centimetres should be where it's at. I think that's reasonable," she said. "And we should be using the budget for important things, like snow removal."
Not a permanent change: mayor
Bike Winnipeg director Mark Cohoe said even though the pilot would apply to road clearing, it will still affect people who use those roads to access Winnipeg Transit, or when there isn't a suitable pathway.
"If you're walking to transit, it's not just the transit route that needs to be plowed," said Cohoe. "We need to have access … from the catchment area for transit as well.
Without that, "you're going to see subsequent drops for … transit, but also for walking and biking in general," he said.
But Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham stressed Wednesday that the draft budget won't permanently change the service standard for snow cleaning.
He urged Winnipeggers to be patient with the pilot, which would run during the 2025-26 snow-clearing season.
"Estimates are there could be the savings of what is equivalent to one citywide snow-clearing cost per year," he said.
"We're going to run a pilot project. If it works great, and the feedback comes back positive, then we'll look at the next steps of identifying maybe changes to the policy," said Gillingham.
"If it doesn't, then we'll have that information too, but this is just a pilot project."
With files from Cameron MacLean