The City of Winnipeg will not move ahead with a pilot project that would have increased the amount of snow required to trigger residential street clearing.
Coun. Janice Lukes will introduce a motion at city hall’s public works meeting Thursday to cancel the project that would have temporarily raised the residential snow-clearing threshold from 10 cm to 15 cm next winter.
The decision follows strong public feedback highlighting concerns about road safety and accessibility, a city news release said Thursday morning.
Residents and city crews begin clearing snow after a heavy snowfall in December. (Mike Deal / Free Press files)
Mayor Scott Gillingham will back Lukes’ motion, the release said.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from Winnipeggers that maintaining our current snow-clearing standards is important,” Gillingham said. “While the pilot was intended to explore potential efficiencies, it’s clear it does not align with the needs of our residents, so we’ll make that change.”
In December, the city’s preliminary budget proposed raising that threshold to 15 cm of snow from 10 cm, which would have started next fall and last throughout next winter. The city believed that could have saved it between $2.75 million to $5 million.
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