Tired of slipping on winter sidewalks? Make your voice heard!

It's tough to raise this during a heatwave, but the city of Hamilton has an online survey about winter maintenance of sidewalks. It closes on September 11, 2020.

We know how important it is to support people getting places on foot, and we see how the city leaves it up to individual property owners to clear snow from sidewalks. It doesn't work. 

Telltale signs are images like seniors walking on the road because sidewalks are icy or snow-covered. 

We don't know how many people can't leave their homes because of the sidewalk conditions. 

We do know that the city ploughs sidewalks in front of schools, parks etc, but then they lift the plough to go to the next area. It's piecemeal and not dependable for people trying to get places. 

Here's where you can help!

• First step: take the city's survey: https://engage.hamilton.ca/sidewalk-snow-clearing
• 2nd step: contact your ward councillor and the Mayor (mayor@hamilton.ca) and let them know you support a comprehensive sidewalk snow-clearing strategy. This reinforces the survey by getting it in front of the councillor directly. 
• Lastly, if you want to help us with further advocacy, join our email list (see right sidebar) so we can follow-up with you.

DEADLINE for the City Survey is September 11, 2020. 

Thanks for taking action with us!

get it on!

Is anyone else getting tired of people coming from other jurisdictions and telling us how to build a more liveable city?: of course Olsen (and others before him) is right on all counts about what it takes to make a city safe and convenient to cycle. Hamilton's lags behind due to an inertia around the council table.

TLC has been pushing the city for 10 years to get the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan implemented, so hopefully we are nearing a tipping point that will see the job get done in (at most) 20 years, rather than 40 or 50 (or 100) years that the current council seems content with. 

Here's the article from the Spec (so you can skip the angry anti-cycling comments section)

U.S. biking 'guru' offers city advice on cycling transition

Jeremy Grimaldi
September 22, 2010

THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
BURLINGTON - A biking 'guru' who helped transform Portland into a cycling oasis has offered his expertise to Hamilton, a city he believes has "progressive potential."
Jeff Olson, partner at Alta Planning and Design and a speaker at yesterday's Ontario Bike Summit 2010 in Burlington, said a number of U.S. cities are using bicycles as a central theme in their shift from manufacturing hubs to modern urban centres. Included in that list are Buffalo, Dayton, Detroit and Cleveland.
And now Olson is interested in speaking with Hamilton.
He says that one great example is Portland, Oregon, which has managed to encourage its population to ride more bikes -- boosting ridership from less than 1 per cent in the 1990s, to about 8 per cent today.
The city, led by Mayor Sam Adams, who also spoke at the event on Monday, is aiming for 25 per cent ridership by 2030.
As part of that transition, the city of about 500,000 people has developed a biking industry worth $100 million. And now some streets, formerly used by 4,000 cars, are being utilized by 4,000 bikes daily.
"If Hamilton sets its sights on 2030, there is no doubt it can be done," said the architect and planner. "If someone from the city wants to chat to us we would be happy to talk. We have already worked in Vancouver, Halifax and York Region.
"In the U.S. we are working in many places with transitional economies, it's just a matter of having a vision."
Olson says the Portland project cost the city about $150 million over two decades, but insists that that price tag equals the cost of one mile of urban highway.
"If it's a matter of not enough money, then you have to look at everything that can be saved when people start biking, then it not only becomes affordable, but rational."
Olson says Hamilton needs to work on its biking infrastructure and must convince its population biking is safe and the rest will fall into place.
During the conference, organized by Share the Road Cycling Coalition, Toronto MPP Cheri DiNovo spoke about her hopes to make into law a private member's bill that would force motorists to give cyclists a one-metre berth when passing.
Attendees were also urged to encourage all municipal election candidates to sign the Active Communities Pledge, which ensures all signatories will promote and support cycling initiatives.
The Active Communities Pledge can be signed at sharetheroad.ca.

TAKING TLC TO CITY HALL

TLC Presentation to Hamilton City Council, S.11, 2001

When the eyes of the world are focused on Hamilton during the World Cycling Championships in October 2003, we have to wonder what possible scenario Hamilton will be showcasing.

Will we have a high death toll, as we have this year, among pedestrians and cyclists run down by automobiles on city streets?

Will we have experienced another record breaking summer of smog days?

Will we still have giant one way roads splitting the downtown into loud, fast and dirty traffic corridors?

Or, will we have slower, quieter, safer two-way streets with pedestrian improvements, bike lanes and paths. Will we rest in treed park-ettes where there were once parking lots? Will the HSR be well funded and sporting front mounted bike racks as are found on bus fleets in several Canadian cities including Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver?

The question is, will we have a much more liveable city than today, with solid infrastructure in place to support sustainable transportation?

Can we, in the next two years, step up the pace of needed transportation improvements?

There have been some excellent advances made in Hamilton with recreational trails that can be further linked to expand environmentally healthy transportation options. There are innovative and progressive plans in the city's "Putting People First downtown land use and transportation plan" and "Shifting Gears: A new cycling plan for Hamilton."

Today we are here to ask that the city and staff put an emphasis on implementing the city's shifting gears cycling plan in its entirety prior to the cycling race.

When the world media gathers in Hamilton, we want to show off these and other improvements: dedicated bike lanes and a linked series of paths, traffic-calming on major streets, and bike racks installed on the HSR bus fleet.

Now if I could focus on CAR FREE DAY by quoting from carfree canada's website: "With Toronto hosting and staging it's First Car Free Day in 2001, we take our place as the First Canadian and North American city to host Car Free Days. We have also positioned ourselves to become the model and leader of an initiative that has captivated the imagination of bureaucrats and citizens alike around the globe" www.carfreeday.ca

This month, Car free day Toronto will be enjoying full-street bike lanes on St. George Street, road games, street performances, bikewear fashion show, hay-rides, grass-covered pavement, obstacle courses, and valet bike parking.

The bragging rights to car free day may go to Toronto for being the first city in North America, but Hamilton has an opportunity to catch up by making meaningful changes to our transportation system now.

We have a petition with hundreds of signatures gathered on short notice asking the city and staff to support car free day this year and in subsequent years by providing free HSR service on Thursday, September 20; by undertaking an ongoing significant public relations campaign aimed at promoting car free day and sustainable transportation in general; and finally, asking Hamilton to create car-free zones within the downtown (and elsewhere) which would enhance local business environments with the long-term goal of making car free zones in Hamilton permanent, vibrant and viable people places.

Thank you.