The City of Ottawa is getting set to attack sidewalks with a renewed sense of urgency this winter after a vicious freeze-thaw cycle last year that sent many residents slipping and sliding on their way to work and school.
Stephen Blais, chair of the Transportation Committee tweeted early Friday the city has a new goal of “24/7 coverage available on all sidewalk beats”.
Blais says the city is getting away from a “one size fits all approach”, promising city staff have created “area-specific heat maps” to identify problem areas.
Blais was asked whether the city got it wrong last winter, and whether this was an admission that Ottawa needs to do better.
“I don’t know that the city got it wrong but as a growing city we have evolving needs and evolving expectations”, he said. “If we are encouraging more people to walk – or take transit and walk from their stop to their office we need to ensure that our sidewalks are well maintained and as quickly as possible after a storm.”
Blais says the city will also deploy more ice-breaking machines, like the ones they tested last year.
