Minneapolis sidewalks are covered with snow and ice for up to half of the calendar year. If even a single property owner fails to clear their sidewalk, an entire block can become impassable. This is an issue of accessibility but also of safety and equity. Unclear sidewalks can cause serious injury through falls or forced necessity to use the street, and disproportionately impacts people of color, people with low income, and disabled people, all of whom are more likely to rely on walking, rolling, and transit for transportation.
Throughout 2022, Our Streets Minneapolis addressed the issue of inaccessible winter sidewalks during winter months by advocating for a City of Minneapolis municipal sidewalk plowing pilot program. The program was estimated to cost $200,000 and would plow priority arterial sidewalks and assist elderly and disabled property owners with sidewalk clearing during the winter season of 2023-2024.
“Our Public Works budget is one of the city’s largest, if not the largest operating department that we fund. In 2023, Public Works is allocated to spend $417 million dollars, and $200,000 of those dollars account for barely a drop in the bucket,” said City Council Member Aisha Chugtai during a December 6 City Council meeting.
Our Streets Minneapolis was disappointed to see that despite support from Council Member Chugtai (Ward 10) and fellow Council Members Elliot Payne (Ward 1), Robin Wonsley (Ward 2), Jeremiah Ellison (Ward 5), and Jason Chavez (Ward 9), that the vote to fund a municipal sidewalk plowing program did not pass. Those voting against the measure included: Council Members Michael Rainville (Ward 3), Latrisha Vetaw (Ward 4), Jamal Osman (Ward 6), Lisa Goodman (Ward 7), Emily Koski (Ward 11), Andrew Johnson (Ward 12), Linea Palmisano (Ward 13), and Council President Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8).
Minneapolis sidewalks are covered with snow and ice for up to half of the calendar year. If even a single property owner fails to clear their sidewalk, an entire block can become impassable. This is an issue of accessibility but also of safety and equity. Unclear sidewalks can cause serious injury through falls or forced necessity to use the street, and disproportionately impacts people of color, people with low income, and disabled people, all of whom are more likely to rely on walking, rolling, and transit for transportation.
Lake Street. Can you even imagine. pic.twitter.com/pnKqYVhwxD
— Lycra Buzzkill 🦝 (@risahustad) January 8, 2023
After the failed vote for a pilot program, Our Streets Minneapolis expanded to advocating for a more robust municipal sidewalk plowing program that encompasses all sidewalks in Minneapolis. The transportation advocacy organization is asking for a fully funded municipal sidewalk plowing program to be included in the 2024 operation budget.
Our Streets Minnneapolis says that prioritizing pedestrian safety networks directly supports the City’s goals of reducing climate emissions and having 3/5 of all trips be done by bicycle, transit, or walking by 2030. As of today, the city is not on track to meet that commitment outlined in the transportation action plan.
“Financially, a citywide program would cost a minimum of $20 million annually. A smaller program [...] would cost closer to $5-6 million,” Linea Palmisano recently wrote to constituents after receiving hundreds of emails in support of a municipal sidewalk plowing program. After Palmisano and other Councilmembers voted against a pilot program, Our Streets Minneapolis says it is a problem of priorities and policy, not funding, especially considering other cities big and small have implemented similar programs.
“We would like to see the city wrestle with the human cost of the current system,” says Our Streets Minneapolis director of advocacy José Antonio Zayas Cabán. “There is literal cost as well, when you consider the 311 enforcement system, residents, business owners, disabled and elderly folks with the undue burden of hiring contractors, lost business and wages due to inability to get around, medical bills from slips and falls, just to name a few.”
Our Streets Minneapolis are actively canvassing across the city for a municipal sidewalk plowing program. “The vast majority of ward constituents are in favor of a municipal sidewalk plowing program,” says Nick Hutchinson, an organizer with Our Streets Minneapolis. If you’re part of that majority, the best way to support the advocacy effort is by calling and emailing those Councilmembers that did not vote for the pilot program and asking for those in support to publicly commit to funding a municipal sidewalk plowing program in the 2024 operating budget.
