HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-16-087 - Sidewalk Winter Maintenance
REPORT TO: Community and Infrastructure Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING: November 7, 2016
SUBMITTED BY: Cynthia Fletcher, Interim Executive Director INS 519-741-
2600 ext. 4424
PREPARED BY: Denise McGoldrick, Director of Operations Environmental
Services, 519-741-2600 ext. 4657
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All Wards
DATE OF REPORT: September 20, 2016
REPORT NO.: INS-16-087
SUBJECT: Winter Sidewalk Maintenance
___________________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
1. That the existing sidewalk snow clearing practices are maintained and
improvement opportunities continue to be explored and implemented
where feasible.
2. That staff continue to review and evaluate impacts of any proposed
changed to O. Reg. 239/02 (Minimum Maintenance Standards) and report
back to Council at a future date.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Currently the City of Kitchener provides winter maintenance of sidewalks in front of City
owned property as well as sidewalks located at the rear of private properties (back-
lotted properties). The majority of municipalities in Ontario have similar sidewalk snow
clearing practices as the City of Kitchener.
Staff have evaluated the impact of city-wide sidewalk snow clearing practices and
reviewed the maintenance practices for other municipalities. Staff recommends that
existing winter sidewalk maintenance practices remain for the following reasons;
Changes to the minimum maintenance standards (O. Reg. 239/02) are being
considered by the Province of Ontario and may require changes to existing
maintenance practices. As such, staff recommends that the existing practices
are maintained until changes are made to the regulation and impacts are
evaluated by staff.
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The City of Kitchener receives approximately 100 complaints per season that
are logged by the Corporate Contact Centre related to city-maintained
sidewalks. A review of the types of complaints identifies the opportunity to
evaluate specific strategies to reduce the volume of complaints.
The full impact of ION construction and snow loading requires evaluation this
season.
The City is currently conducting a pilot on year-round maintenance of trails and
pathways around schools which, depending on the outcome of the pilot, may
create pressure on the sidewalk winter maintenance resources.
BACKGROUND:
Through the 2015 budget process, Council approved a motion directing staff to examine
sidewalk snow clearing operations as follows:
1.ge in
community consultation to determine if any changes are required; and further,
2. Circulate the previous report completed on sidewalk snow clearing to Council
and report back on the practices of other large municipalities including the
impact of implementing a similar level of service in 2016 or beyond.
The -Law was reviewed in late 2015 and
Council approved a number of enforcement improvements related to response times,
chronic problem areas, 24 hour wait period, bare pavement requirement and public
awareness (CSD-15-089). Enforcement noted there was a significant improvement in
the length of time it took to respond to and clear sidewalks that were not in compliance,
which resulted in a decreased number of calls from frustrated residents. Enforcement
was also able to take a proactive approach to chronic problem areas which no longer
required residents to call in repeatedly for the same address.
The purpose of this report is to inform Councilof the practices of other municipalities
and the impact of implementing an expanded city-wide winter sidewalk maintenance
program.
The previous reports on sidewalk snow clearing (INS-11-055, CSD-08-002, CSD-07-
087)were circulated to Council on October 26, 2015.
Summary of Existing Sidewalk Snow Clearing Practices
Currently the City of Kitchener, through the Operations - Environmental Services
Division, maintains sidewalks throughout the winter fronting all City owned properties
and back-lotted properties. In addition, sidewalks in the downtown areas are
maintained by the City and funded through special by-law taxation to downtown
properties.The average annual revenue received through the downtown winter
sidewalk maintenance is $95,000.
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There is a total of 1,200 km of sidewalk city-wide and the City is responsible for
maintaining approximately 193 km. The winter maintenance of sidewalk is organized
through 13 routes and the maintenance standard is that sidewalks are plowed within 24
hours after cessation of snow. In an average winter the City uses approximately 390
tonnes of salt to deice sidewalks. The current annual expenditure for sidewalk winter
maintenance is $894,619 per year (average 2010-2015).
All other sidewalks are maintained throughout the winter by property owners as set out
(Snow and Ice). Chapter 687
requires property owners to clear sidewalk abutting their property to bare surface within
24 hour
standards. In 2015, a number of enforcement changes were made resulting in
improvements to response time and chronic problem areas.
Recognizing the difficulty of sidewalk clearing for residents with health or mobility
issues, the City is promoting an awareness campaign that encourages people to be
good neighbours by clearing snow for those who may need assistance. The Snow
Angels program has been implemented successfully in many municipalities and is
aligned with the Neighbourhood Strategy vision of helping neighbours connect and work
together to do great things in their neighbourhood.
Committee on Kitchener Seniors (MACKS) and Grand River Accessibility Advisory
Committee (GRAAC) identified support for expanding the Snow Angels program.
Complaints
The City tracks complaints associated with winter sidewalk maintenance through the
Corporate Contact Centre. The average number of service requests for city maintained
sidewalks generated based on 2014 and 2015 data is 88 per season and is comparable
to the call volume for other City services (e.g. leaf pickup and turf maintenance). This is
approximately 0.5 calls per km of sidewalk maintained by the City of Kitchener.
Complaints are primarily regarding the impact of road plowing on snow depth on curb-
faced sidewalk, unplowed/slippery sidewalks and windrows left from road plowing
activities.
Based on review of the types of citizen complaints, changes were made to address
concerns regarding curb-faced sidewalks and the amount of snow caused by road
plowing activities. When a complaint is received, a supervisor will assess the amount of
snow and when warranted the City will clear the sidewalk snow. There may be further
opportunities for improvement to address problematic areas through changes to the
existing practice. Potential strategies will need to be evaluated to determine budget and
service level implications and where feasible will be implemented as continuous
improvement efforts.
Complaints are also tracked for by-law related concerns for winter sidewalk
maintenance. As noted in the background, Council approved a number of enforcement
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changes in 2015 that resulted in an improvement in response time and a decrease in
overall complaints. The improvements include:
A decrease in the number of complaints from the 2014/2015 winter season which
had 2759 complaints and the 2015/2016 winter season which had 902
complaints.
An increase in the number of sidewalks that were cleared through by-law
intervention from 60 in 2014/2015 to 68 in 2015/2016.
A decrease in the average number of days for sidewalks to be cleared through
by-law intervention from 20 days in 2014/2015 to 1 day in 2015/2016.
It should be noted that the winter of 2014/2015 was extremely cold and resulted in ice
build-up on sidewalks whereas the winter of 2015/2016 was unseasonably mild which
likely influenced the number of complaints received.Data will continue to be gathered
on these metrics.
Analysis of City-Wide Sidewalk Snow Clearing
An analysis of the potential impact of increasing the winter maintenance service level to
provide city-wide sidewalk snow clearing was conducted and evaluated with the current
practice.
Estimated financial impacts have been evaluated based on an extrapolation of sidewalk
length and potential routing. It is estimated that an additional 27 routes, bringing the
total number of routes maintained to 40, would be required to provide winter
maintenance for all sidewalks city-wide. It is estimated that an additional 783 tonnes of
salt would be required for the City to maintain all sidewalks.
The ongoing annual operating expenditure (labour, equipment, materials) is estimated
at $3,644,619. This represents an additional annual operating expenditure of
$2,750,000 and a tax rate increase of 2.5% or an increase of $26.29 to the average
household (assessed at $280,000). In addition, year 1 of implementation would require
an initial capital expenditure of $4,050,000 for the provision of snow clearing equipment.
This would likely result in a number of deferred capital projects to accommodate the
capital investment within the existing capital forecast.
In addition to evaluating financial impact of city-wide snow clearing, the potential for
increased complaints was also evaluated. Other municipalities we contacted who offer
this level of service averaged 0.94 calls per km of sidewalk annually with the majority of
complaints being for unplowed/slippery sidewalks or for sod/property damage. This
represents an increase in call volume of an additional approximately 1000 complaints.
A summary comparison of existing practice compared to city-wide winter sidewalk
maintenance is provided in Table 2.
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Table 2: Comparison of Existing Practice to City-Wide Sidewalk Maintenance
City Wide Sidewalk
Status QuoMaintenance
Length of Sidewalk 193km1200 km
Maintained
# of Routes
1340
Salt Used (Tonnes)3901173
Annual Maintenance
$894,620$3,633,790
Expenditure
Capital Expenditure$0$4,050,000
Cost per Household*$8.59$34.87
1
($26.29 increase)
2
3
Complaints Received
88Estimatedat approximately
1150
1. Cost per household based on assessed value of $280,000.
2. Status quo complaints based on average complaints logged by Corporate Contact Center in 2014
and 2015.
3. Based on feedback from other municipalities providing this level of service.
Review of Other Municipalities
The majority of municipalities in Ontario have similar sidewalk snow clearing practices
as the City of Kitchener, including the City of Cambridge and City of Waterloo.
A review of municipal winter sidewalk maintenance service levels was conducted for
comparator municipalities that provide city-wide sidewalk snow clearing. The review
identified that service levels were inconsistent amongst municipalities and all
municipalities maintained sidewalks to snow packed conditions. In addition, snow
clearing was only initiated with a specific snow depth trigger ranging from 2.5 to 8 cm
and target response time ranged from 12 to 72 hours.
City of London
City-wide sidewalks with the exception of the downtown (responsibility of
merchants).
Surface maintained to snow packed.
Response triggers at 8 cm with a desired response time of 24 hours
City of Burlington
City-wide sidewalks.
Surface maintained to a snow packed condition however will attempt to achieve
bare pavement through de-icing when resources permit.
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Response triggers at 5 cm with a desired response time of 24-36 hours
City of Kingston
City-wide sidewalks.
Surface maintained to a snow packed condition however will attempt to achieve
bare pavement through de-icing when resources permit.
Response triggers at 2.5 to 5 cm with a desired response time of 24-72 hours
City of Ottawa
City-wide sidewalks.
Surface maintained to a snow packed condition however the downtown, large
employment centers and special tourism areas are maintained to bare concrete.
Response triggers at 5 cm outside of these specialized areas with a desired
response time of 12-16 hours
City of Guelph
City-wide sidewalks.
Surface maintained to a snow packed condition however the downtown and high
priority areas are maintained to bare concrete.
Response triggers at 8 cm outside of these specialized areas with a desired
response time of 20 hours
Municipal Act 2001, Ontario Regulation 239/02 - Minimum Maintenance Standards
Current MMS are silent on winter sidewalk maintenance; however staff are aware that
draft revisions of the MMS are taking place at the provincial level. The draft
amendments for the MMS include standards for winter sidewalk maintenance and are
anticipated to identify snow accumulation depths, response timelines, and monitoring
requirements for sidewalks. Regulations can be amended quite quickly and new winter
requirements could be in place for the upcoming winter season or for the 2017/18 winter
season. In the event there are new MMS, there will more than likely be new winter
maintenance level of service will be necessary.
CONCLUSIONS:
The winter sidewalk maintenance review evaluated the impact of city wide sidewalk
snow clearing practices and reviewed the maintenance practices for other
municipalities. The following highlights the outcome of the review:
The City of Kitchener has made positive changes to both by-law and
maintenance practices and will continue to evaluate opportunities to do so.
Complaint volume is consistent with other program areas and by-law complaints
have decreased since the enforcement changes were made in 2015.
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The majority of municipalities in Ontario have similar sidewalk snow clearing
practices as the City of Kitchener.
The review of municipalities that have implemented city-wide sidewalk snow
clearing identified that service levels were inconsistent amongst municipalities
and all municipalities maintained sidewalks to snow packed conditions. Further
resident complaints increased following the implementation of city-wide
programs.
There are a number of uncertainties related to winter maintenance including
changes to the minimum maintenance standards and the impact of the ION
which requires evaluation.
In addition, the City is currently conducting a pilot on year-round maintenance of
trails that may change service levels regarding trail winter maintenance.
Staff are recommending that the existing sidewalk snow clearing practices be
maintained and continuous improvement opportunities continue to be explored and
implemented where feasible.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The recommendation of this report supports the
vision through the delivery of core service.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
At this time there are no financial implications.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM a in
advance of the council / committee meeting. A copy of this report has been provided to
all members of the Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee (GRAAC) and the
(MACKS).
CONSULT Staff consulted with MACKS and GRAAC to obtain feedback on
continuous improvement opportunities.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Cynthia Fletcher, Executive Director, Infrastructure Services
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