{"id":517916,"date":"2026-03-06T10:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517916\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T10:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:06:09","slug":"city-snow-clearing-crews-let-down-the-visually-impaired-this-winter-advocates-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/517916\/","title":{"rendered":"City snow-clearing crews let down the visually impaired this winter, advocates say"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Mother Nature appears to have accomplished a job critics say city staff didn’t complete this winter: clearing the snow from critical infrastructure for the visually impaired.<\/p>\n

Now, advocates for people with disabilities are\u00a0hoping the city will start compiling a list of the most potentially hazardous intersections where better snow clearing is needed next winter.<\/p>\n

The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) is specifically highlighting its disappointment with city efforts to clear “tactile pavers” \u2014 dimpled pads that allow the visually impaired to distinguish between a sidewalk and a roadway.<\/p>\n

CNIB vice president Suzanne Decary said Toronto staff get a failing grade this winter when it comes to clearing the pavers.<\/p>\n

“I would echo the sentiments of our clients, who say ‘it just feels like nobody cares,'” Decary told CBC Toronto. <\/p>\n

“The response was slow from the city.”<\/p>\n

\"SuzanneSuzanne Decary, vice president of programs at the CNIB, says the agency’s SnoWay campaign will be run again next winter, despite limited success at convincing the city to prioritize snow clearing at tactile paver locations this past winter. (Tina MacKenzie\/CBC)<\/p>\n

The CNIB has been running a campaign called SnoWay, which urges both individuals and municipalities to do a better job of clearing snow so that partially sighted people can get around easily.<\/p>\n

Decary didn’t release firm numbers, but said too often, the CNIB heard from its members that dimpled pavers at intersections were covered in snow long after a storm, making travel hazardous.<\/p>\n

Worse, there are also instances where plows inadvertently smothered the tactile pavers.<\/p>\n

She said her staff met with city officials to try to convince them to prioritize snow clearing at intersections equipped with tactile pavers but had no success.<\/p>\n

City staff denied the accusations. <\/p>\n

City spokesperson Hannah Stewart said there were 14 calls to the 311 service line that specifically asked for help with tactile pavers this winter. And, Stewart said, there were no injuries reported to the city as a result of snow-covered pavers.<\/p>\n

She said snow-clearing crews do prioritize major pedestrian walkways.<\/p>\n

\u201cTactile walking surface indicators,” she wrote “are cleared of snow and ice throughout the winter as part of the City\u2019s mechanical sidewalk clearing program.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe tactile paver at Dundas Street and Augusta Avenue was covered with snow and ice on Feb. 22, rendering it useless to the partially sighted. (Adam Wynne)City should do some tracking: Advocate<\/p>\n

David Lepofsky, an advocate for those with disabilities, said his own experience this winter showed him the city’s struggling to clear its tactile pavers. <\/p>\n

“The problem overwhelmingly is the snow is piled up over the surfaces that we need our canes to detect,” he said.<\/p>\n

Since the curbs at most intersections have been cut down to allow a seamless ride for people in wheelchairs, it’s very difficult for blind people to know where the sidewalk ends and traffic begins. <\/p>\n

The dimpled pavers are “absolutely vital,” he said, because it allows people to make the distinction immediately, Lepofsky said.<\/p>\n

He wants city staff to start canvassing neighbourhoods during this stretch of warm weather to determine which intersections are most in need of special attention after a storm, then provide snow-clearing\u00a0crews with that information so they can prioritize potential trouble spots after the next winter storm.<\/p>\n

CBC Toronto put that suggestion to city staff. <\/p>\n

Stewart said city staff will review the performance of the winter maintenance program, as it does every year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis includes assessing hotspot areas and identifying areas for improvement,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecisions about any service changes for next winter will be made once that review is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517917,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-517916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517916"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517916\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}