The City of St. John’s has made some changes to how it approaches sidewalk snow clearing in the downtown area.

Last night city council approved a new tender for downtown sidewalk snow clearing, to Complete Snowclearing Limited, for just over $293,730. That new contract is 27 per cent longer, due to the snow clearing season now running from November 1 to April 30.

Dave Lane, council’s lead on finance and administration says the change was made to ensure the city is prepared for whatever the weather throws our way. He says in Newfoundland we don’t have much of a spring and that if the sidewalks aren’t cleared after a late-season storm, it can really impact people. The city wants to make sure they are covered if winter storms happen in the spring.

As well, several new routes have been added to the contract, including: the north side of Water Street from Springdale Street to Topsail Road, the north Side of New Gower Street from Barter’s Hill to Hamilton Avenue, and the Linegar Avenue school zone.