The ability to comfortably walk and roll in our communities should not be seasonal.

Aerial shot of a person using a motorized plowing machine to clear snow on the sidewalk.

Snow or shine, everyone deserves accessible sidewalks.

We are asking the City of Minneapolis to fully fund a municipal sidewalk plowing program. Clear sidewalks year-round are worth the investment.

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Accessible, safe, equitable sidewalks.

Snow and ice restrict mobility for people with walkers, wheelchairs, scooters, and strollers. If just one property neglects to clear its sidewalk, an entire block can become inaccessible. Unclear sidewalks disproportionately impact people of color, people with low income, and disabled people, all of whom are more likely to rely on walking, rolling, and transit for transportation.

Municipal Sidewalk Plowing: A Preventative vs. Punitive Solution

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Every winter, snow and ice-covered sidewalks cause countless fall-related and traffic-related injuries, sometimes fatalities. When ice and snow compact on unclear sidewalks, pedestrians often resort to walking in the street to get where they need to go.

It is urgently necessary to reduce carbon emissions to reduce climate impact. Clear sidewalks year-round will make it easier to walk, roll, and take transit. Ice-covered transit stops and sidewalks shouldn’t be an obstacle to environmentally friendly transportation

Clear sidewalks are better for our businesses. A municipal sidewalk plowing program would ensure year-round accessibility to busy street corners, pedestrian ramps, bikeways, and transit stops, opening city destinations to more patrons.

small child walking with backpack though unplowed sidewalk
a mountain of snow piled up in an intersection, making it impassable

It’s more than a matter of “just shoveling.”

“When you’re shutting out a huge percentage of our community because of something like weather, where does that leave us?”

Claire Forrest

Local Author, Wheelchair User

small child walking through unclear sidewalks with snow

“Our current system of asking property owners to clear sidewalks is not reliable and creates accessibility issues throughout the city.”

Laura Groenjes Mitchell

Our Streets Board President

“Drivers would never accept similar street conditions; pedestrians shouldn’t be offered subpar infrastructure.”

Meghan Sutter

Supporter

It’s worth the investment.

We plow for cars. We should plow for people.

61%

of Twin Cities voters would support a city-funded sidewalk plowing program

12,000

311 complaints about sidewalk conditions in winter 2022/2023—a record high.

< $100

A Minneapolis citywide municipal sidewalk plowing program would cost less than $100/year per resident

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Learn more about streets for people.

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blurry image of cars on i-94 bridge, with brake lights and headlights
Education

Traffic: “You get what you build for”

Data has shown that expanding highways causes more people to drive, thus worsening traffic congestion. This is called induced demand, and it is why the country’s biggest highways are also the ones jammed with traffic.