Narrow Sidewalk

Today i’m writing about narrow sidewalks. When it comes to the width of sidewalks it should be wide enough for at least one wheelchair and some but did you know the standard width is much wider than that. The standard width range is 1.5 to 1.8 meters.

“The City’s Universal Design Standards state that sidewalks should be a minimum width of 1.5 metres. Today, 93% of sidewalks in Winnipeg are at least 1.5 metres (or more) in width, however, approximately 7% of sidewalks (or 175 linear kilometres) are narrower than the 1.5 metre requirement. Most of these narrow sidewalks are located in Winnipeg’s older neighbourhoods“ – City of Winnipeg Pedestrian and Cycling Strategies 2014

Areas that I came across when traveling in my wheelchair:

Archibald Street by Tim Hortons – Pretty much had to go through the drive through to get around.

Archibald Street by Tim Hortons – Pretty much had to go through the drive through to get around

St. Mary’s Rd at Fifth Ave by Guay Park – Felt way too close for my comfort

St. Mary’s Rd at Enfield Crescent by Nelson McIntyre Collegiate – So close my foot rest was over hanging on the road when turning

Although some of this sidewalks are at the standard width but in some cases that’s not enough when the sidewalk is right beside the road like on St. Mary’s with vehicles zooming by at 60 km/h can be scary. Another thing is some sidewalks have bushes or trees that make a normal sidewalk width less then half the width.

St. Mary’s Road by Mager Dr

Story of Winter Troubles

Although spring is on it’s way and we didn’t get much snow this year but with just 20 centimetres of snow still creates problems for sidewalks. Winnipeg does get sidewalks cleared with-in 36 hours of each snowfall of 5 centimetres or more. I don’t believe that’s soon enough for people who need to get places like appointments or school even.

From section C of the Snow Clearing Policy on the City of Winnipeg website:

“Sidewalks on Priority I & II streets shall normally be maintained to a compacted snow surface. Plowing shall commence when an inspection, following a 5 cm snowfall accumulation or equivalent local drifting conditions, indicates a necessity for a clearing operation. The snow plowing operations shall be completed within thirty-six hours following the end of an average storm“

One time during high school I had to write my exam for one of my classes and my family had to shovel half a block of city sidewalk all the way to where the school bus picks me up. Since it snowed a lot that year the city pushed snow from the street back on to the sidewalk just before going to school.

Last winter was much worse… I was stuck inside for 4 months because of to much snow to deal with as well the record cold winter.

This year the only thing I have to complain is when they plowed the side streets, they pushed snow on Priority I & II sidewalks so that means people wheelchairs have to wait up to 36 hours before getting around anywhere

Snow covering sidewalk

Unfortunately winters are sometimes hard to deal with but things can be done differently to make it easier for pedestrians, Made it through this winter but next winter is another story.