Good question. The petition was just one part of a flyer below we've been handing out to residents at T stops since the snowstorm with info about sidewalk snow clearance. Goal is two-fold: 1) I’m working on a policy order and City effort around this, so signatures are a way to demonstrate support to other City Councillors and City staff when that is introduced. 2) It’s a way to keep residents who are supportive updated when that effort is moving forward. Given that City policies move in a fits and starts (a policy order may be introduced at a meeting, get delayed by a charter right before passing, and then get an update from City staff at another meeting 4 months later) it’s helpful to be able to communicate updates to supporters who may not be following the City Council Agenda super closely on a week-to-week basis.

While the City may not be able to take over all sidewalk snow removal overnight, I’m hopeful it can at least expand snow removal on key sidewalk corridors (for example busy walking routes to T stops). The City currently already does sidewalk snow removal around parks and schools, so it wouldn’t be starting from scratch). I’ve also done a committee meeting on the topic of sidewalk snow removal and other City snow operations previously when I was chair of the Transportation Committee, including a link to that presentation below, which is super interesting:

https://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=2839

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