Ottawa prides itself internationally as being a winter city. A winter city should provide its citizens and visitors with the opportunity to access and enjoy its parks year-round. In Ottawa, this is not always the case. For example, Central Park West and East from Bank Street represent approximately one third of the Glebe’s park space but are not fully accessible without winter maintenance of their key staircases connected to the Bank Street pedestrian corridor.
The City staff report on Winter Maintenance Quality Standards will be presented to committee in early Fall, 2023 and will speak to the winter maintenance of stairs. In light of this, the GCA passed a Parks Committee motion in April 2023 recommending that the City approve funding for a pilot project to provide the budget for winter stairway maintenance for Central Park West and East from Bank Street as part of its Winter Maintenance Quality Standards and City Transportation Masterplan.