How well did London clear snow this winter? 2 councillors want a review

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 09, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Icy sidewalks, unplowed roads and trouble getting to schoolhouse are conscionable immoderate of the complaints piling up from London residents who faced challenges getting astir successful the crystal and snowfall this past winter.

Now, two councillors are calling for a reappraisal of the city's snow and crystal removal — and what needs to improve. 

London's Ward 7 councillor Corrine Rahman and Ward 11 councillor Skylar Franke are putting guardant a question to the infrastructure and firm services committee with a ballot astatine Wednesday's meeting. 

"I deliberation our unit bash a large job. I deliberation that the contractors that assistance america retired bash a large job, but there's ever country for improvement," Rahman said. 

The reappraisal would look astatine however the metropolis utilized contracted services during the 2024-2025 wintertime season, alternate options for snowfall and crystal removal connected roads and sidewalks, clearance astir schools, and suggestions for caller machinery to assistance with windrows, which signifier erstwhile snowfall is near astatine the extremity of a driveway aft a plow has cleared the road. 

"In Old South and Wortley Village wherever there's a batch of radical who locomotion astir to get to work, to the autobus and to school, I was proceeding a batch of complaints astir icy sidewalks," said Franke, adding that portion astir complaints were from pedestrians, she besides heard from drivers astir a request for faster snowfall clearance connected the road.

She besides heard from families adjacent Woodland Heights Public School connected Springbank Drive who had challenges walking, she said. 

"The main entranceway is disconnected Springbank, but astir radical travel from the neighbourhood down the schoolhouse and those pathways are not maintained successful the winter."

Meanwhile, Rahman said windrows are a cardinal contented among galore residents successful her ward. 

"A batch of radical sent maine a video that was being shared connected societal media astir however to get the snowfall not to physique up astatine the extremity of your driveways erstwhile the plows spell by," she said, adding that a reappraisal could item suggestions that different communities person already adopted to hole attraction issues. 

The reappraisal is besides a mode for residents to larn however overmuch wealth is needed for imaginable changes, Rahman said. 

"It's ever bully to cognize the outgo of those kinds of services truthful radical tin truly deliberation astir it from the position of assembly and what kinds of considerations we person to marque for work improvements," she said. 

City teams wide adjacent to 4,000 kms of roadway and much than 1,700 kms of sidewalk successful the winter, said Joel Gillard, the city's part manager of roadworthy operations, successful an email. He said they prioritize precocious postulation routes earlier clearing section streets and cul de sacs. 

"This wintertime has been precise engaged for our crews responding to each of the snow, and we admit the wintertime upwind has continued aboriginal successful the play than what Londoners person antecedently experienced the past fewer years," Gillard said. 

Franke said the extremity is to get committee support Wednesday truthful the speech tin spell to assembly sometime this spring. 

"We're hoping to get this done truthful that adjacent winter, we tin truly code people's concerns and effort to marque the metropolis easier to locomotion astir successful the winter," she said.