City of Regina crews will clear sidewalks on Dewdney and 11th Avenues of snow this winter after receiving council approval Wednesday. “This supports accessibility goals and increased maintenance on the reconstructed Dewdney Avenue and 11th Avenue corridors,” City Manager of Operations Kurtis Doney told councillors. “Council’s direction regarding impassable residential streets and alley maintenance found current service levels are generally meeting operational objectives and resident’s needs.” Last winter the city cleared sections of Dewdney Avenue for businesses in the Warehouse District in the wake of a long construction project. Following positive feedback from the area, administration proposed its expansion and the addition of 11th Avenue after similar construction downtown. This expanded service is expected to cost $288,180 annually, according to the city. Administration will proceed with the enhanced service during the 2026-27 winter season, while seeking ongoing funding through the 2027 Budget process in December. After review by the Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC,) members suggested not to expand snow clearing on Dewdney Avenue. “Sidewalks and snow clearing are extremely important for accessibility; in fact, it’s the number one prioritized item on the accessibility plan,” said Ward 5 Coun. Sarah Turnbull, council’s representative on the AAC. “Dewdney Avenue isn’t a good fit for accessibility. 50 per of those buildings aren’t accessible; you have to go around the back, you have to go around the door, there are sensory issues, there are narrow aisles, and that’s just not a good fit for accessibility.” Administration admitted the recommendation to expand snow clearing efforts on Dewdney were not all for accessibility, but rather for more economic and vibrancy reasons. The reasons were more accessibility-related downtown. “What we heard from the Accessibility Committee is they supported Phases 1, 2 and 3 [of our plans],” Doney said. “They were very clear they also wanted particular locations prioritized like schools, hospitals, daycares, medical centers and [places] like that.” Despite the AAC’s recommendations regarding Dewdney Avenue, council went ahead with approving the proposal from administration. “I don’t want to vote that they are a priority area for accessibility when they’re clearly noted they aren’t,” Turnbull said. “We said we want to do it, but not for accessibility reasons: we want to do it for other reasons.” Administration says it must dip into the Winter Maintenance Reserve in order to implement the policy this winter. This presented an issue to some, as that reserve is below its recommended balance. “From 2025 to 2027, this council has increased our snow removal budget for sidewalks $564,000,” said Ward 1 Coun. Dan Rashovich. “That’s pretty drastic in my opinion. How did we survive before all this? Did the city fall apart? These are choices council and we make.” “We were putting away $12 million a year for winter maintenance, but by 2018, I believe we cut back the winter maintenance amount to $8 million because there was a fair amount ending up in the reserve,” explained Ward 9 Coun. Jason Mancinelli, the longest active current member of council. “Winter maintenance is seasonal, depending on how much snow you get. I believe we got hammered pretty good for the next number of years.” Rashovich called on residents to do their share. “It’s just very easy to just raise people’s taxes and say, ‘you know what, we’ll do this for you.’ Instead of saying, ‘no, clean your sidewalk.” “How did we survive? I would say we didn’t,” said Turnbull. “Our infrastructure deficit is strong. For our sidewalks, we currently have like 700 cracks happening every year, and only 500 of them are being fixed. Our snow removal budget is $12 million-plus and we’re arguing about $564,000 for sidewalks.” The motion passed 9-1, with only Rashovich voting against the idea. Mayor Chad Bachynski was away from Wednesday’s meeting. “This is about supporting our infrastructure,” Ward 3 Coun. David Froh, the acting deputy mayor, told reporters after the meeting. “But it’s also about making it easier for folks to come and enjoy these important parts of our city center.” “We want to keep the snow off the streets and the sidewalks, and we want people to come back downtown and support the businesses in these areas,” he added. Administration will be back before council in December with more about the program’s additional costs – and how to pay for it – when councillors deliberate the 2027 city budget.
