The city plans to add Comstock and Euclid Avenues to its expanded snow removal program starting this winter.

Syracuse’s Common Council passed a $250,000 measure Monday to support the street additions. Once implemented, the one-year pilot program will cover 38 miles of city streets across all districts and will target high traffic areas.

Syracuse University also agreed to participate in the program Wednesday, said Corey Driscoll Dunham, chief operating officer for the city. The university will clear about two miles of city-owned sidewalks in several areas adjacent to campus, she said.

The university’s participation will help the city refocus its efforts onto other streets in need of snow clearing services, including sections of Almond Street, Driscoll Dunham said.

The measure was passed in a 7-1 vote at the council voting session, with Councilor Chad Ryan, of the 2nd district, as the sole opposition.

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Snow clearing efforts will be led by JSK Snow Services, a Syracuse-based outdoors company the city has previously contracted with for the program. Plowing operations will take place during the winter of 2019-20 once the city receives three accumulated inches of snow, according to Syracuse.com.

Concentrating efforts on the designated areas will help city residents who depend the most on safe public transportation, said Councilor Joe Driscoll, of the 5th district. A Syracuse native who used to walk to school himself, Driscoll said high school and college students were among the groups that stand to benefit most from the program.

“It’s a public need; something we’ve heard from constituents a lot that they want to see happen,” he said. “Exploring other cities that have done it, I think it’s a public good that’s worth supporting.”

Councilor Bryn Lovejoy-Grinnell, of the 3rd district, said the program’s increased scope was “long-past due.” She hopes for the program to reflect positively on school attendance rates, in light of a recent Syracuse district policy change which redefined acceptable walking zones for elementary and middle school students.

Despite the program’s potential, Lovejoy-Grinnell said her perspectives on the issue were limited by the lack of information initially provided to the councilors. At the previous study session, a representative of the mayor’s administration didn’t fully explain how the contract cost was determined, she said.

Hopefully, the completion of the one-year pilot would provide the city with the cost analysis information that she had expected at the study session, Lovejoy-Grinnell said.

“I continue to be hopeful that the administration will provide more information in a more timely way when requested by the council,” she said.

Ryan expressed concerns about the project’s projected costs. The list of streets to be cleared includes commercial properties that may already shovel their driveways. As a result, tax-paying property owners might have to shoulder potential overspending, creating a problem of shifting responsibilities, he said.

“They’re doing West Genesee Street in my district. Those are all businesses,” he said. “How do we not know they’re not doing them (the driveways) already, and this company is just taking it?”

For remaining councilors, including Driscoll, the funding measure itself is evident progress of meaningful change for the city.

“This is something that has been discussed in the city of Syracuse for, I want to say, decades. So, this is a good development to see, finally, going forward,” Driscoll said.

Published on October 23, 2019 at 11:00 pm

Contact Marnie: ammunozc@syr.edu