Dear Editor:
Speaking from my perspective here in Elora, I think the township does a great job of clearing the roads in the winter. It has been a heavy snow season, but still the roads are cleared pretty quickly and routinely. If you’re willing to wait a day, you don’t even need to own winter tires.
But the sidewalks are another matter, which is too bad if we’re trying to get people to walk more, for any number of good reasons. As I write, the sidewalks in my downtown neighbourhood haven’t been cleared for days and are impassable (again).
Clearly, a much lower standard is being applied, and the township is only getting to the sidewalks when other priorities allow. The sidewalks on the commercial strip running from the Bank of Montreal to the Geddes Street Market have been treacherous for much of this winter. The sidewalk on the new Metcalfe Street bridge is generally covered in heavy ice or slush.
Our citizens are steadily getting older and more and more of them can’t really handle slippery conditions. Some even rely on canes, walkers and wheelchairs. Unless they are brave enough to try walking down the middle of the street (which you do see), these individuals often have to stay trapped indoors because of the commonly-poor conditions of our sidewalks this winter.
I was in the commercial snow removal business for many years, and in that sector, specific performance standards (bare, wet asphalt or concrete within 12 hours) are generally a basic requirement for doing business. While it seems that no amount of repeated snowfall keeps the roads from being well-maintained (that kind of standard is being met), there is clearly no inspection or expectation of even decent results for the sidewalks in town.
For the sake of our older citizens, people in town who don’t own cars, and those of us who just like to walk every day, I hope the township will make plans to fix this by next winter.
Paul Taylor,
Elora