What to know
- Beaches–East York Councillor Brad Bradford says residents are still dealing with poor snow clearing, with hundreds of complaints about narrow streets, stuck vehicles, and unsafe conditions.
- Sidewalks and intersections remain largely impassable in parts of the east end, raising accessibility and safety concerns for parents, seniors, and pedestrians.
- The City of Toronto says plowing is complete and crews are now focused on snow removal.
Almost a week after Toronto faced a record-breaking snowstorm, Beaches-East York City Councillor Brad Bradford says his constituents are still facing snow clearing issues.
On Friday, the councillor told Now Toronto that his office has been receiving hundreds of emails and over 50 calls from residents that are frustrated with the city’s snow clearing efforts in the area.
“There’s a lot of frustration. Last year was a disaster. Mayor Chow went out and promised everybody that it was going to be better. But, I don’t think they’re seeing it. I’m not seeing it, and residents here in the east end are not,” he said.
“Every time somebody brings forward an issue, we are escalating it directly with staff to go back out and fix it. But there are a lot of them.”
The complaints come after a record-breaking snowstorm hit the city last weekend, leaving its streets covered in over 50 cm of snow.
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The councillor said although the city has been sending plowing machines to the area, the service seems to not have been performed properly, leading to roads that are too narrow to allow cars to drive both ways.
“The reality with a lot of the streets here in East York and the Beaches [is that] they’re narrow. So, they’re always ready to plow down the street, down the middle, and it’s effectively a one-way street. That’s where you start to get into the chaos of people having to back down the street, or trying to throw their car in the side, in a snowbank, to let somebody pass, and then they can’t get out,” he explained.
“Delivery trucks are stuck all over the place with the rear wheel drives… Streets are shut down, then when somebody is stuck, and so that is a big challenge.”
On top of issues on the road, Bradford says sidewalks in the area are also not clear from snow, leading to accessibility issues in the area.
“There are lots of parts in the east end that are barely passable. If you’re a parent like me walking your kid to school, you’re still traipsing over mountains of snow. Sidewalks are not clear. The intersections are a mess. And you know, it can be dangerous for people,” he added.
The councillor also made a social media post earlier today addressing the snow issues, saying that residents have even started cleaning the snow themselves.
“The city needs to do better at keeping our sidewalks safe and accessible for everyone,” he wrote on Instagram.
Residents complain about lack of clearing
In addition to Bradford’s comments, many residents were also calling out the city online for snow clearing deficiencies in the area.
“I’m in East York, specifically close to the Danforth. I think the last time I saw that there was a snow plow that went through my street was on Monday, or late Sunday night. The sidewalks are basically unwalkable so we have to walk on the road,” one resident on Reddit said on Wednesday.
“I’ve had the same issue in the area I live in, around Avenue and Eglinton. I reached out to the office of our city counselor and the office said they were gonna look into it but nothing’s been done. We are one of the only blank spots on the entire map. It’s absolutely mayhem around here,” another resident said on Thursday.
“Pretty much all Queen east (say Bolton to Coxwell) is still very rough. Almost non-existent sidewalks, street parking, etc. Dundas is marginally better,” a different resident added.
Councillor calls for change
Meanwhile, the councillor is calling on the city to improve its snow clearing service, including prioritizing certain areas, such as school zones, for clearing.
“Prioritizing destinations in a community, whether as a community center or hospital or school, and really focusing and triaging our resources to make sure those places are open and accessible, first and foremost,” he said.
The councillor is also urging the city to minimize impact for residents while snow plowing, saying he has witnessed road closures for plowing during peak hours, including morning school drop-off time for parents.
“Today, my wife and I are taking our daughter…to elementary school in East York. And as we’re driving her there…The crews are out at 8:20 in the morning, closing the street in front of the school,” he said.
“I think you should be prioritizing school zones. But here we are, five days since the snow event, five business days, and you’ve decided to close down a street at peak drop-off time at 8 a.m., where you have hundreds of parents trying to get their kids out the door and into school?”
Bradford also urged the city to prioritize sidewalk over bike lane snow cleaning, explaining that snow-covered sidewalks have been impacting residents’ mobility.
“There’s still a lot of pedestrians, a lot of seniors, a lot of parents, a lot of folks who are trying to make their way to the transit, and they need to do that on foot. The plows that do the bike lanes and the sidewalks are the same piece of equipment, and there is an opportunity cost when they choose to run that plow down Danforth in a bike lane, instead to run it down Danforth on the sidewalk.”
City of Toronto responds
Meanwhile, the City of Toronto says it has completed snow plowing operations across the city, and is now focused on removing snow from residential streets, including in the east end, as well as highway ramps, bridge decks, and hospital routes.
“Due to the nature of this work, this will take time to execute. Loaders scrape snow from the road into industrial blowers, which pile the snow into dump truck convoys transporting the snow to five storage locations across the city,” a spokesperson from the city told Now Toronto.
The city says that while “many sidewalks are clear and no longer require plowing,” crews are still responding to residents’ 311 calls related to the snow, urging them to keep calling the non-emergency number when needed.
“Residents have provided valuable information regarding areas that need snow clearing and the City asks them to continue to submit service requests to 311. These reports help crews identify areas where conditions have changed or where repeated clearing is required.”
