Sidewalk & Walkway Shovelling in Thunder Bay
Hand crews for the parts a machine cannot reach, from front steps to the path around the house.
Machines clear driveways. The route from your door to that driveway, the steps under it, and the narrow path around the side of the house are shovel work, and shovel work is a real service, not an afterthought. Thunder Bay Snow Removal runs hand crews for exactly these spaces.
The Part of the Property That Actually Hurts People
Falls do not happen in the middle of a driveway. They happen on the second step, on the sloped walk, on the strip by the door where dripping eaves refreeze overnight. Thunder Bay’s winter runs long stretches where days soften the surface and nights harden it again, and any walkway cleared casually becomes a rink on that cycle.
Our crews clear walking surfaces down to the actual surface, not to a tidy-looking packed layer, and sand behind themselves. On the freeze-thaw weeks, the sanding matters more than the shovelling, and sanding and ice control covers how we treat ice as its own problem rather than snow’s little brother.
What Counts as a Walkway
More than the front walk. The path to the mailbox or the community superbox. The route to the garbage and recycling bins, which still need to reach the curb in February. The side path to the gas meter or the oil fill, which a delivery driver will not wade thirty centimetres of snow to reach. The back steps that are the only exit on that side of the house.
Most of these are two minutes each with the right crew on site and impossible to keep up with from inside a warm truck. That is why walkway work rides along with our machine routes instead of competing with them.
Around the Awkward Stuff
Older Thunder Bay neighbourhoods mean older walks. Heaved slabs, brick edging, low railings, concrete steps a century old with their corners going soft. A steel scraper swung hard fixes none of that and chips all of it. Crews work these properties with the tool that suits the surface, which sometimes means a poly edge and more patience.
On Its Own or On a Plan
Walkway service books three ways. As part of a full residential snow clearing plan, as an add-on to driveway snow clearing, or on its own for a property where the driveway is handled but the walking surfaces are not. Older homeowners often want precisely this piece, and it anchors our snow removal for seniors plans.
What's Included
- Front walks, steps, and side paths done by hand
- Cleared down to the surface, then sanded for grip
- Paths to bins, mailboxes, and oil fills kept open
- Added to any driveway plan or booked on its own
- Careful work around railings, planters, and heaved slabs
Other Services We Offer in Thunder Bay
Sidewalk & Walkway Shovelling Questions
Does the city not clear sidewalks in Thunder Bay?
The public sidewalk along the street, yes. City sidewalk plows work through them once five centimetres has fallen, clearing to a packed surface and sanding after. Once you step inside the property line, though — the walk to your own door, the steps, and every path around the house — the job is yours. That is the work this service covers.
Why hand crews instead of a machine?
Because a forty-inch blade does not fit a thirty-inch walk with a rail on one side and a garden bed on the other. Steps, landings, and tight paths get done properly with a shovel or not at all, and packed leftovers on a step become ice by the same evening.
What does packed snow on a walkway actually turn into?
Ice, almost always. Foot traffic compresses the leftovers, a mild afternoon softens it, and the overnight freeze polishes it. That is why our crews clear to the surface and follow with sand rather than leaving a trodden layer that looks fine for a day.
Can I get walkways added to my existing driveway service?
Yes, that is the most common form of it. The machine does the driveway, the hand crew does the walks and steps in the same visit, and one invoice covers both.
Get a Free Sidewalk & Walkway Shovelling Quote
Winter routes are planned in the fall and fill up fast. Lock in your driveway now with a free quote.