Above: Pedestrians climb through a corner packed with snow in 2010 (Marlin Levison)

Walking around Minneapolis promises to be a little easier this winter with the elimination of mini-mountains of snow at many street corners and bus stops.

Those mounds can grow more than a foot high as more snow is tossed aside by street plows, creating cumbersome barriers for pedestrians – particularly those with disabilities.

City engineer Steve Kotke said $200,000 in the mayor's proposed 2015 budget will help implement a policy of clearing snow at corners and bus stops along busy streets within three working days of a snow emergency or the accumulation of 4 inches.

Clearing corners now happens somewhat randomly, largely when there is a lull between major snowstorms.

"I'd like to be able to set a standard," Kotke said. "And just say look, people can expect that we're going to have these corners cleared off within a certain time frame. So I think that's the essence of it."

Kotke said that it may take until March to get services up to par with the new policy, though residents will start noticing a difference in January and February.

The policy would apply to so-called "pedestrian priority corridors," which run along most major arterial streets (map below). They have both the most foot traffic and the majority of bus boardings.

At a budget presentation Thursday, council member Blong Yang asked how much it would cost to expand the service to all streets in the city. Kotke estimated it would be about $1 million.

"That's not too bad," Yang said.

Council vice president Elizabeth Glidden said the change was significant.

"I think this is one of the biggest challenges, frankly, in the city," Glidden said. "We get to wintertime and the majority of our population is kind of trapped."

Bicyclists will also see some wintertime improvements. Kotke said an extra $150,000 in the mayor's budget will purchase equipment to aid plowing on narrow protected bikeways and $41,000 in new ongoing funding will fund bike path plowing. The city has 96 miles of protected bikeways.

Above right: Photo by Joe Bernard.

Pedestrian Priorities Map