For the life of me I cannot understand why so many taxpayer dollars were spent on re-plowing the roads in my neighbourhood. They are plowing snow that will be gone in a couple of days anyways. On Sunday I hand shoveled the sidewalk to keep it clear for peds. Then they plowed the streets pushing it all back onto the sidewalks. Then they plowed the sidewalks. Today they plowed the streets and you see the results in the photos. No way I am going back out there to shovel it, I would only do it if I had a snowblower which right now I am really tempted to get. Please also notice the nice job they did on the wind rows in the driveways. What for? The snow will melt and now the peds have to fight it out with the cars on the streets.
All this from a City Hall that is constantly whining for money. Another irony is the excuses one gets if you ask for the bike lanes to be plowed. Somehow they cannot manage that.
7 comments:
Brampton clears it's paths, and no one even uses them! They get cleared within hours. What's wrong with Toronto? It's the 'burbs which are suppossed to suck for cycling!
It is a 'make work' project. One comes along and pushes it on, the next one off. Repeats. This continues until the snow is completely melted :(
You can judge a city by how it treats its cyclists and pedestrians.
Amen Tinnooo ///// toronto takes care of the rich and shafts the rest of us
Darren, good for you for making a good effort.
I, too, take pride in keeping the walkways clear ... and I enjoy shoveling.
Don't give in to the snowblower temptation. Please.
But don't go re-do it either.
Here's a thought: Keep a photo record as well as detailed documentation of the snow clearing on/near your property.
In fact, this is something I've wanted to do for many years. I have done so, informally, but with no camera it doesn't 'hold weight'. I observe very carefully (scientifically) such goings on throughout my community. As I say, though: no camera. Video would be even better.
If we can organize a network of like-minded people to do so ... particularly cyclists who are typically very active and concerned about their community ... we can compile a report and put the city and works dept. to shame come springtime. And initiate changes to implement by next winter.
Asking nicely obviously doesn't work. We need to start shaming the politicians and bureaucrats. Public shaming is the way to go. Especially with documented proof of nonsense, with hard numbers of the waste and potential improvement to be had at lower cost!
** Any others, out there, interested?
David.
Update: I emailed my Councillor's office (Heaps no less) and within a few hours they came and cleared the sidewalks. They took all snow and put back the wind rows in people's driveways. Hopefully none of the seniors around here had a heart attack moving it again.
It's not hard to believe that there's no money for cleaning bicycle lanes, when you read in todays Toronto Star that office supplies for one City Hall office employee are $53,000.00 per year.
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