Icy Montreal sidewalks cause surge of reported falls, City slows snow removal to increase salting operations

Slipping and sliding on Montreal’s 6,000 kilometres of sidewalks is not uncommon because of icy conditions. Montrealer France Tremblay has been there before.

“It’s very terrible,” she said. “This year I didn’t fall, but last year I fell two times.”

The City of Montreal says their snow removal operations have slowed down to focus on slippery sidewalks after a surge in the reported number of falls. 

“The goal was to clear those sidewalks in order to avoid slippery conditions,” said Philippe Sabourin, a City of Montreal spokesperson. “We took every means, but obviously we didn’t achieve our goal and there’s still a lot of job needed to be done on those sidewalks.”

On Jan. 11, just days after a snowstorm hit Montreal, Urgences-santé reported more than 1,400 calls to emergency services, which is well above their usual 900 to 1,000 daily average. About a quarter of the calls of them were related to falls. 

Montrealer Julien Bévot says he’s careful. “But I’ve seen a lot of people fall.”

Tremblay walks two hours a day on the streets of downtown Montreal and during the winter, she says it can be difficult.

“I see elderly people who have trouble walking with their canes or walkers, it’s not pleasant,” she said.

She said she’s used to wearing spiked shoes while walking outside because she says she’s noticed a lot of unsalted sidewalks.

“Sidewalks have to be like the bike paths, which are very well cleaned,” Tremblay said.

For Montreal James Doyle, the walking conditions haven’t been too slippery. “You can still see a lot of snow on the ground, it just makes it a little harder to walk through,” he said. “I’m used to it, you just have to be careful with every step you take.”

Sabourin says if a Montrealer notices a sidewalk isn’t cleared or salted, they can contact the city by calling 311.

The city says they increased salting operations after receiving 551 calls to 311 reporting icy sidewalks last Thursday, something Sabourin says was unusual.

“It’s because the conditions were extreme, it was very difficult to maintain a good state on our sidewalks,” he said. “When those extreme conditions are present, the city needs time to complete the operation, we have to pass on the sidewalk more than once.”

3,000 workers are out clearing streets and sidewalks and the city is asking for patience and caution, as they look to make sure they are in good shape before another snowstorm. Although one isn’t in the forecast this week.

“In the coming days, we will keep our crew on duty,” Sabourin said. “We will focus on the sidewalk and at this point, it’s not perfect, it’s getting better and better though, but it’s not perfect.”

“I always have to walk slowly and carefully,” says Tremblay.