Regina considering clearing snow from all paved pathways

The City of Regina is considering expanding snow clearing to all asphalt and concrete pathways.

The city's Community and Protective Services Committee is set to considera report on the topic at its meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The city has 88 kilometres of pathway, 61.1 km of which are already cleared by parks maintenance.

A survey with five municipal partners in 2018 found that Regina clears more pathwaysthan most. Regina was tied with Saskatoonat 69 per cent, but beatLondon, Ont. at 59 per cent, Calgary at 47 per cent, Winnipeg at 20 per cent and Sudbury, Ont. at 2 per cent.

In Regina, paved pathways are cleared for transportation if they are multi-use pathways or high-use connector pathways to schools, recreational centres and business areas.

Last February, council called on administration to report back on the costs and other implications of maintaining, lighting and clearing all paved pathways.

Should all paths be cleared?

The report analyzed the 26.9 kilometres of pathway not normally cleared.

The first option would be clearing all pathways in open space, including duplicate pathways and paths that lead to nowhere. This would cost about $49,000 for labour and equipment and an estimated $136,000 capital investment in fleet.

The 25-year Transportation Master Plan includes an additional 106 kilometres of new pathways, which would result in an estimated additional $243,800 commitment in operating expense.

According to the report, this would go against the city's financial and design plans. It would also be difficult considering some parks were designed with narrow paths, curbs and bridges that prevent equipment from clearing pathways. Doing it anyway could cause damage to some parks, the report states.

Option two would include would include clearing eligible, recreational-use pathways longer than one kilometre. That would mean clearing an additional four kilometres of paved pathways, which would increase the percentage of pathways cleared from 69 per cent to 74 per cent.

This increased labour would come at a cost of $4,600.

The last option would be to maintain current service levels, which meet the community transportation and long-term financial goals of the city.