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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-07-087 - Sidewalk Winter Maintenance Analysis City Wide ) R Community Services Report To: Date of Meeting: Submitted By: Prepared By: Ward(s) Involved: Date of Report: Report No.: Subject: Community Services Committee October 15, 2007 Greg Hummel, Interim Director of Operations Scott Berry, Manager of Maintenance Operations All October 9, 2007 CSD-07-087 SIDEWALK WINTER MAINTENANCE ANALYSIS CITY WIDE RECOMMENDATION: For Information. BACKGROUND: At the September 24, 2007 Community Services Committee, Council heard several delegations relating to the issue of winter maintenance on sidewalks throughout the City of Kitchener. As a result, Council has requested staff investigate the feasibility of sidewalks being maintained city- wide as a municipal service. REPORT: Currently the City of Kitchener, through the Operations Division maintains sidewalks in front of all City owned properties, back lotted properties, as well as all Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) properties through contract, in addition to the downtown. Please note, the downtown sidewalk figures have been left out of these calculations because of the substantially higher than typical levels of service delivered to the core. Relative figures are as follows: · Total sidewalk length maintained by Operations, is approximately 162 Km at the present time. · Total sidewalk length city wide is approximately 1025 Km. · Total length of sidewalk not maintained by Operations is approximately 863 Km. · Approximately 32 Km of new sidewalk has been constructed on average each year between 2002 and 2006. · Current Levels of Service: all sidewalks are plowed within 24 hours after the cessation of a snow event. This is consistent with the timeframe given to private property owners, pursuant to Chapter 687 (Snow and Ice), for clearing the sidewalks abutting their properties. Current winter sidewalk maintenance of the 162 Km is supported through 11 routes, each having a Trackless combination plow/salter and operator assigned to them. Report No: CSD-07-087 2 This current level of service results in costs of approximately $600,000 annually based on a 5- year average (2002-2006). While certain economies of scale will be present, it is estimated that to move from the current length of sidewalk maintained to city-wide length an additional 24 routes would be required which would total 35 routes to meet the existing levels of service city-wide. As a result, annual maintenance expenditures for winter sidewalk activities are estimated to grow approximately $3,200,000 per year, from approximately $600,000 to $3,800,000 annually. These figures are summarized in the accompanying chart. Current level of Service City Wide level of Service length of Sidewalk (Km) 1 62 Km 1 025 Km Number of Routes 11 35 Annual Maintenance $600,000 $3,800,000 Expenditure Operations' currently does not have the resources in terms of operators or equipment to direct towards the 24 new routes potentially envisioned. Options are as follows: · Capital equipment costs for the 24 new routes is estimated to be approximately $2,980,800 (24 Trackless units @ $124,200) · Staffing options range from hiring full time staff, temporary staff, contracting out, or some combination of these options. Other Municipalities were contacted to determine their winter sidewalk maintenance levels of service; the comparisons are as follows: · City of Waterloo clears City owned property, back lotted properties, WCDSB under contract, is currently undertaking a pilot project to clear curb faced sidewalk whenever a full plow of roads is undertaken. · City of Cambridge maintains sidewalk for all City owned property, back lotted properties, sidewalks on all Regional Roads (except the downtown core), and all curb-faced sidewalk. · Township of Woolwich within the settlement area of Elmira only maintains 40 Km of sidewalks. This service is contracted out with an annual budget of approximately $80,000. · City of London maintains all sidewalks city-wide (with the exception of the downtown). Sidewalks are maintained when 8cm of snow has accumulated. Pedestrian walkways are not maintained during the winter. · City of Guelph maintains all sidewalks city wide, including the downtown, totaling approximately 700 Km of sidewalk. Maintenance is a two tiered approach: sidewalks on arterials and collector routes are maintained primarily, and after 4 em of snow has accumulated. Sidewalks on lower volume routes are maintained after the primary walks are clear, once 8cm of snow has accumulated. · City of Ottawa maintains approximately 1300 Km of sidewalks with 66 routes. Forty-two (42) routes are maintained by the City, while 24 routes are contracted out. Sidewalks are maintained when 5cm of snow has accumulated. Report No: CSD-07-087 3 There are problems inherent in the enforcement of a sidewalk snow clearing by-law. Enforcement cannot start until some period of time (24 hours) has elapsed since the end of the snowfall to allow the property owner to clear his/her sidewalk. Then, there is a required notification period (unless it is a repeat offender). The standards time to comply is typically 24 hours. Then, if the sidewalk is still not cleared, a service request is sent to Operations to have the sidewalk cleared. Even under tight timelines, it can take 3-4 days for a sidewalk to be cleared in instances where the property owner does nothing to comply. Even though the offender is penalized for non- compliance, this does little to increase accessibility along the subject sidewalk. In short, the timelines associated with enforcement offer no guarantee of quick removal and increased accessibility. In any by-law situation where an amount of time must be provided for someone to comply, it is clear that enforcement is not the ultimate answer. The key is to strive for immediate and voluntary compliance, thus eliminating the time allowed to comply, which interferes with the accessible use of the sidewalk. There are essentially 2 components to an education program that focuses on voluntary compliance; firstly, the moral responsibility to provide access for everyone throughout the City and; secondly, the penalty that is imposed if a person does not comply. Clearly, the first message should be the most effective. Currently, the By-law Enforcement Division has 1 officer that is entirely dedicated to sidewalk snow removal complaints throughout the winter season, and is supported, as required, by the team of 6 Property Standards Officers. It must be noted that, during times of heavy or prolonged snowfalls, the officers can be diverted to away from their other enforcement files, creating concerns with service level responses in those areas. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Initial calculations suggest the City of Kitchener would incur a capital cost to acquire equipment of approximately $2,980,800 in addition to approximately $3,800,000 annually to maintain all sidewalks city-wide throughout the winter based on current lengths. Greg Hummel, Interim Director Operations Division AP