The city council has admitted that the sidewalks around North Bay are not of a high standard and that it is seeking to improve the situation under hard circumstances.
Snow has hit hard over the last month and snowbanks have formed around the city, while the sidewalks have deteriorated to make navigating tough. With more pedestrians forced onto snowbanks, the danger of a collision with a vehicle is greater, meaning more danger for drivers and pedestrians alike.
With accidents already higher than other times of the year, it is important for drivers to remain extra vigilant on the roads as pedestrians may appear from snowbanks without warning. Pedestrians are also warned to maintain safe practices, especially when crossing a street.
However, the city is saying that it has been overwhelmed, with crews and private plow companies unable to cope with the volume. The city has already stated it has spent above its annual snow removal budget, and still buses have been affected, schools have closed, and the sidewalks remain a problem.
“The condition of sidewalks around the city is not very good, we admit and realize that,” Tanya Vrebosch Chair of Engineering, Public Works and Environmental Services, stated on her Facebook page on Thursday afternoon.
“In almost every area it has been necessary to attach blowers in order to clear. We do not have enough blowers for each trackless so this process has been slow but unavoidable considering the amount of drifting that took place.”
Some residents are unhappy that their street remains un-cleared of snowbanks, while a nearby location where a movie is being filmed has been completely cleared. Vrebosch said the commitment to the movie was made before the accumulation and that it was something the city could not back out of.
“This commitment was made well in advance of the high banks and excess snow and at a time when we felt it could operationally be completed. We have told the production companies that we will not take any further requests as we have to deal with our own snow removal going forward. The commitments have been minor and are taking limited resources and times to complete.”