Government Council BS External personnel to take over winter maintenance on sidewalks in Basel
Basel homeowners will soon no longer have to clear snow from sidewalks themselves. The Basel government has applied to the Grand Council for 760,000 francs per year in recurring funding and a one-off investment of 1.2 million francs for the snow clearance of sidewalks by external personnel.
25.06.2024, 14:44
SDA
This will be used to organize 20 ploughs and gritters as well as the on-call service, as the Basel government announced on Tuesday. After a snowfall, all of Basel's sidewalks would be cleared within five hours during the day. If it snows during the night, snow clearance will begin at 07:00.
External personnel will be responsible for clearing the snow, as many employees of the Civil Engineering Office are already working on the roads and public transport stops, according to the press release. The costs for the necessary on-call service with external personnel would also be incurred if it did not snow in a given year.
The government is also asking the Grand Council to amend the cantonal building and planning law. This would make snow clearance and ice control on sidewalks the responsibility of the municipalities.
At the beginning of 2022, the Grand Council upheld the motion by Jèrôme Thiriet (GAB) and instructed the government to implement the demand against its will.
