Latest news with #citystaff
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Chow says city staff ‘failed' in handling of record Toronto snowstorm
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow addresses a report on 'systemic failure' in city's snow-clearing operation, and ignoring of residents' needs. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says city staff 'failed in their job' during this year's record-breaking snowstorm, pointing to broken plows, ignored 311 calls, and misleading public updates as neighbourhoods remained buried in snow for weeks. Chow's made the comment to reporters ahead of an executive committee meeting where an Auditor General review of the city's response to back-to-back-to-back February storms as well as another conducted by city staff was scheduled to be discussed. The reviews found that while the city's snow clearing works during routine weather, its procedures 'face systemic gaps' during major storms — issues Chow says have been 'ignored' and reflect a 'failed culture.' 'The sole response to the snowstorm… failed my expectations,' Chow said. 'The city staff in charge with managing the snow clearance failed in their job. They had no idea what was happening out in the field.' 'They ignored 99.83 per cent' of calls In the first half of February, Toronto saw more than 94 centimetres of snow, which marked about 30 per cent more snow than the city would normally get during that time. The series of storms, which alone dumped more than 50 centimetres of snow on the city over the span of just days, prompted a council-ordered review after widespread complaints about unplowed sidewalks and inaccessible roads. cars, Toronto, snow Cars are buried in Toronto's east end after two snowstorms last week. (Brian Weather/ CTV News) The review found staff had claimed to fully implement 19 recommendations around snow clearing ahead of February's snowfall — when in reality, only eight were completed. In addition, the auditor general's findings also revealed public updates during the storm didn't reflect real-time conditions, while 311 and PlowTO communications proved unreliable. On Wednesday, Chow said that of the 29,000 snow-related 311 calls logged during the storm, staff responded to just 51. 'Worst of all, the staff team received 29,000 calls for help… and they ignored 99.83 per cent of them,' Chow said. Equipment issues also plagued operations, with city contractors using incorrect machinery that broke down mid-storm, Chow said. 'The snow plows broke down when we needed them most because the staff allowed privately contracted companies to use the wrong machines, despite the contract specifying which machines to use,' Chow said. 'We must fix this failed culture' A second independent review, ordered by City Manager Paul Johnson and released last week, found Toronto's winter maintenance program generally works but faces 'systemic gaps' that limit efforts during major snow events. Toronto snowstorm People walk through a snow-covered street following a heavy snowfall in Toronto, on Thursday, February 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press) Chow said both reports exposed 'errors that were not fixed over the years, despite four previous investigations into the city's snow removal processes.' She described inspection logs as incomplete, missing signatures, or skipped entirely, and criticized Toronto for failing to adopt more reliable equipment like Montreal and Calgary's more specialized plows. 'I will accept (the city manager's) recommendations as the first step to address this systemic failure,' she said. 'We must fix this failed culture of ignoring residents' basic needs.'
CTV News
16-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Plows broke, 311 calls ignored: Chow slams city response to record snowstorm
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says city staff 'failed in their job' during this year's record-breaking snowstorm, pointing to broken plows, ignored 311 calls, and misleading public updates as neighbourhoods remained buried in snow for weeks. Chow's made the comment to reporters ahead of an executive committee meeting where an Auditor General review of the city's response to back-to-back-to-back February storms as well as another conducted by city staff was scheduled to be discussed. The reviews found that while the city's snow clearing works during routine weather, its procedures 'face systemic gaps' during major storms — issues Chow says have been 'ignored' and reflect a 'failed culture.' 'The sole response to the snowstorm… failed my expectations,' Chow said. 'The city staff in charge with managing the snow clearance failed in their job. They had no idea what was happening out in the field.' 'They ignored 99.83 per cent' of calls In the first half of February, Toronto saw more than 94 centimetres of snow, which marked about 30 per cent more snow than the city would normally get during that time. The series of storms, which alone dumped more than 50 centimetres of snow on the city over the span of just days, prompted a council-ordered review after widespread complaints about unplowed sidewalks and inaccessible roads. cars, Toronto, snow Cars are buried in Toronto's east end after two snowstorms last week. (Brian Weather/ CTV News) The review found staff had claimed to fully implement 19 recommendations around snow clearing ahead of February's snowfall — when in reality, only eight were completed. In addition, the auditor general's findings also revealed public updates during the storm didn't reflect real-time conditions, while 311 and PlowTO communications proved unreliable. On Wednesday, Chow said that of the 29,000 snow-related 311 calls logged during the storm, staff responded to just 51. 'Worst of all, the staff team received 29,000 calls for help… and they ignored 99.83 per cent of them,' Chow said. Equipment issues also plagued operations, with city contractors using incorrect machinery that broke down mid-storm, Chow said. 'The snow plows broke down when we needed them most because the staff allowed privately contracted companies to use the wrong machines, despite the contract specifying which machines to use,' Chow said. 'We must fix this failed culture' A second independent review, ordered by City Manager Paul Johnson and released last week, found Toronto's winter maintenance program generally works but faces 'systemic gaps' that limit efforts during major snow events. Toronto snowstorm People walk through a snow-covered street following a heavy snowfall in Toronto, on Thursday, February 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press) Chow said both reports exposed 'errors that were not fixed over the years, despite four previous investigations into the city's snow removal processes.' She described inspection logs as incomplete, missing signatures, or skipped entirely, and criticized Toronto for failing to adopt more reliable equipment like Montreal and Calgary's more specialized plows. 'I will accept (the city manager's) recommendations as the first step to address this systemic failure,' she said. 'We must fix this failed culture of ignoring residents' basic needs.'
CBC
16-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Saint John's Main Street project brings fresh change, corrects old mistakes
One of the largest Saint John construction projects of the season is nearing completion. The Main Street project brings the city its first protected bike lane and corrects decades-old mistakes, city staff say.
CBC
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Main Street project fixes decades-old errors in key Saint John road link
An upgrade of Main Street and the Main Street Viaduct, one of the largest projects of the Saint John construction season promises major improvements — and corrects some old mistakes. When the work is completed in late summer, Main Street speed limits will have dropped to 50 kilometres an hour from 60, and the number of lanes reduced to four from six — two in each direction. Accessible infrastructure like audible traffic lights and tactile sidewalks are being added to the street, along with green space. "This is a really important connector for two major, very densely populated neighbourhoods in the city and not everyone has access to a vehicle," said city traffic engineer Jill DeMerchant. "We're also introducing other modes of transportation for folks who don't want to drive. So it's providing an equitable space for all of the mode users in the city." The biggest changes will be the city's first extensive protected bike lane, replacing the outer two lanes in both directions. Both sides will have concrete barriers dividing the bike and vehicle lanes. , Construction started in May with traffic reduced to one lane on each side for much of the summer. The project was announced in 2022 but delayed in 2023. When the city announced construction would start this summer, the plan received a range of feedback on social media, where the mayor and city staff posted updates related to the project. Some posters praised the project. Others said it should have been put on hold until Harbour Bridge repairs — now slated for a 2028 completion — were finished or called the project a waste of taxpayer money. Saint John currently has three other projects to increase accessibility at intersections and five that are including bike lanes and active transportation upgrades. The Main Street project comes at a cost of more than $3.8 million, including $1.76 million from the federal government. The province is providing $495,000. DeMerchant said the city's traffic data shows the lane reductions on Main Street won't have significant impacts on traffic. Project bigger than bike lanes, says cycling advocate Cycling advocate Nick Cameron said the bike lanes will make the street safer for cyclists, and the traffic-flow benefits will carry over widely. "I think sometimes these projects get characterized too much as a cycling only project," he said. "With these lane reductions, what you're doing is you're reducing the number of conflict points." Both DeMerchant and Cameron — who has previously worked in regional planning — said the viaduct was constructed to handle more vehicle traffic than it ever regularly sees. "Six lanes never made sense," DeMerchant said. "By reducing that, it's reducing conflict points for drivers, reducing the crossing distance for pedestrians and increasing sight-line visibility for everyone." Correcting history's mistakes DeMerchant said a big part of the project is correcting planning mistakes made in the 1960s, when the city "had a vision of what they thought the city was going to look like." "For that purpose , they decided to take Main Street … and expand that out to [six lanes] because they anticipated that the vehicle volumes would expand to a point where that would be necessary. Looking back on that now we see that that wasn't the case." Benjamin Peterson, a Saint John resident who researched Maritime urban planning history for his master's degree, said the 1960s were years of urban renewal in Saint John and beyond. The expansion of Main Street had consequences for what was once a thriving commercial area of the city. "You had these big programs with the federal, provincial and municipal governments expropriating houses, demolishing neighbourhoods to make room for transportation infrastructure for commercial development for these big projects," Peterson said. These developments included a wider Main Street, the Place 400 office building and the Lord Beaverbrook Rink among others. But many projects, Peterson said, didn't get built. "As we sort of come to terms with maybe some of these projects that were first dreamed up in the [1950s-1960s] as they didn't come to fruition or as things change, I think it's very reasonable to go back to the drawing board and to revise some of the infrastructure," he said. Cameron said the change will "activate the streetscape" just by opening it to more people, including those in vehicles. "But the more people we can get out of their cars — and not just passing through the area, but actually meandering — more businesses along those areas will have more of those serendipitous unplanned visits," he said.
CBC
09-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Toronto city staff scale back proposal for priority bus lane on Dufferin, Bathurst streets
Toronto city staff are curtailing proposed plans for dedicated bus lanes along Bathurst and Dufferin streets, according to a report going to council's executive committee later this month. The report, which will be considered on July 16, recommends bus-only lanes be installed on Dufferin Street from King Street W. up to Bloor Street W. — not up to Eglinton Avenue W. as initially proposed. It similarly recommends bus-only lanes be installed on Bathurst Street from Lake Shore Boulevard W. north to Bloor Street, except for the stretch between Nassau Street and Dundas Street W., where construction is ongoing at the Toronto Western Hospital. The Dufferin proposal sparked mixed reaction from residents in the spring, who raised concerns over the loss of parking spaces and congestion during a virtual town hall. WATCH | Reaction mixed over proposed bus lanes on 2 major Toronto streets: 'It's desperately needed': Bathurst and Dufferin could get priority bus lanes 2 months ago Duration 2:19 The city is considering installing priority bus lanes on two major Toronto streets. But as Tyler Cheese explains, some say the decision is being rushed without properly consulting those who will be most affected. At the time, Philip Morse, senior project manager for the city's transportation services, told attendees that "What we saw in the data is that Dufferin is congested, Dufferin is slow and Dufferin needs to be better." According to the city staff report, the priority lanes would see 75 parking spaces removed along Dufferin Street and 277 parking spaces on Bathurst Street. It would require an estimated $8 million in capital funding to make the changes, the city staff report says. If approved by the executive committee, the proposal would go before city council. If approved by city council, the report suggests construction would begin this fall with an estimated completion in the spring of 2026.
