Council to Discuss Who's Responsible for Snow Removal

The City Council is taking a proactive approach to snow removal this year, calling for a hearing to discuss who is responsible for clearing various public spaces before the first flake falls.

“There was confusion over which agency had jurisdiction over certain properties,” said District 6 Councilor Matt O’Malley, who requested the hearing. “I’d like to be proactive as opposed to reactive about this.”

Last winter, as over 60 inches of snow fell on the Boston area, bus stops and walkways remained impassable as as to who was responsible for removal.

“It was a really, really difficult winter,” District 7 Councilor Tito Jackson recalled. “A couple of the bus stops in my district ended up so high from snow that seniors fell.”

Jackson and his staff ended up shoveling certain stops out themselves, after the MBTA claimed it was not responsible for clearing bus shelters along Tremont Street and Columbus Avenue. According to its website, residents whose property abuts a bus shelter are responsible for clearing roughly 98 percent of the city’s 8,000 stops.

In February, the MBTA agreed to send out employees to clear bus stops, after pressure from riders and the city who deemed the uncleared stops a public safety hazard.