When Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget proposal floated down to the City Council, his promise to test clearing snow for free from Chicago’s sidewalks didn’t stick.
Johnson’s budget includes no funding to pilot the city-run Plow the Sidewalks program, despite his campaign promise to enact the policy and vocal support of it in office.
The mayor’s team said the city’s daunting budget challenges made paying for it impossible in 2025, frustrating transportation and disability advocates who insist there is enough money to push ahead.
It would cost around $1 million to pilot the program by plowing sidewalks in four, 1.5-square-mile areas scattered across the city, said Laura Saltzman, transportation policy analyst at the disability advocacy nonprofit Access Living. In the context of a $17.3 billion overall budget, cutting that amount “is not going to be what keeps the city solvent,” but paying up would build trust in the often-overlooked disabled community, she added.
“It shows a commitment that you understand, even when it’s hard or even when there are trade-offs, that disabled people matter, disabled people deserve to be in society,” Saltzman said.