St. John's has improved its snow clearing. These pedestrians say sidewalks are still an obstacle course

Snow, rain, ice, freeze and thaw.

It's winter in St. John's.

On weekdays, Luke Quinton walks his daughter to her downtown school. The walk is only three blocks — but they're dodging snowbanks along much of it.

He stops in front of a particularly large snowbank, about five feet high and much bigger around. It totally blocks the sidewalk, forcing pedestrians out into the street to avoid it.

"This is the block that I guess gets us every time," he told CBC News. "Of course, my kid is quite happy to climb over the humongous snow pile, but as a parent, you know, this is definitely not what you want to see."

Quinton said conditions are especially dangerous during the morning rush hour, with more vehicles on the road and more people in a hurry.

"The truth of the matter is it's your body and bones against a … car that's coming at you. That's not a great feeling for safety and security," he said.

For years, pedestrians have complained about how the City of St. John's clears — or doesn't clear — sidewalks. According to the city's collision report, released in December, there were 71 pedestrian collisions per year from 2018 to 2022, 86 per cent of which resulted in injury or death.

WATCH | St. John's residents want safer sidewalks:

Watch one family navigate the obstacle course of St. John’s sidewalks on their way to school

12 months ago

Duration 2:40

Luke Quinton says sidewalks are often icy when he walks his young child to school — and then there’s just a large tower of snow that you either have to climb or edge out into traffic to get around, as the CBC’s Darrell Roberts got to see first-hand. The City of St. John’s, meanwhile, says it’s stepping up its efforts on an issue that has long been criticized.

St. John's city councillor Jamie Korab said council is trying to make sidewalks safer and staff do the best they can with the resources they have.

"We've bought new equipment, we've hired new staff, and that's allowed us to increase from the 161 kilometres to now 175 kilometres and go from seven days to five days to have all sidewalks completed," he said.

Korab said the city prioritizes sidewalks based on vehicle and pedestrian traffic, as well as 300 metres in front of schools.

"We don't do a lot of residential streets," he said. "We do connector streets."

Elizabeth Yeoman, an active transportation advocate, said the city's sidewalk clearing has significantly improved but there's more work to be done, especially on school routes.

"It's really dangerous," she said.

She said the 300-metre stretch of sidewalk the city plows in front of schools isn't enough.

"It's really not a walking route, it's a dropoff route," she said.

Ryan Green, another parent whose child attends the same school, agreed the city's snow-clearing efforts have improved — but still aren't ideal.

"You have cars rushing to get to work or whatever and buzzing past as you're walking in the road," he said.

For Rennie's River Elementary crossing guard Dave Innis, who's worked as a crossing guard at Rennie's River Elementary for a decade, those rushing cars are a worry.

"I'd say about 60, maybe 70 per cent of the drivers pay attention. But then you got another 20 or 30 or 40 who don't," he said.

Innis said he's had a few incidents with speeding drivers while kids were trying to cross.

"Everyone seems to be in a hurry. Everyone. I mean, they got to slow down," he said.

"Sure, it's only getting to work. You could be five or 10 minutes late, but you're going to get there. Arrive alive."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.