The City of St. Catharines delivers snow and ice clearing to three subsets of the sidewalk network: sidewalks that exist on bridge overpasses; single-width sidewalks that directly abut travelled lanes (such as where there is no area for snow storage) and sidewalks abutting municipally owned lands (such as parks, facilities). Sidewalk winter maintenance on the balance of the network is delegated, in accordance with By-law 2008-315, to the adjacent property owners.
The City also has a program to provide sidewalk snow removal for seniors or individuals with physical disabilities.
View our map identifying the sidewalks the City conducts snow removal
When will the sidewalks be cleared?
The same City staff that plow your roads, also take care of the sidewalks. Therefore, most sidewalk operations do not begin until plowing of the main roads has been completed. From a practical point of view, this avoids pushing snow from the road onto previously cleared sidewalks. All efforts are made to ensure sidewalks are cleared 48 hours after the end of a snowfall, but generally clearing begins within 24 hours.
In general, the first priority for the City’s sidewalk tractors is the Downtown core, and as resources are freed up from the roads, tractors are dispatched across the balance of the City. The specific order of deployment will vary based on each snowfall event and prevailing ground conditions.
Community staircases and school crossing guard locations are the priority for manual snow removal.