A joint City Council committee on Friday buried an influential alderperson’s plan to launch a narrow test of sidewalk snow removal amid fears about rising costs, legal liability and political expectations.

The Committee on Transportation and the Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee voted 13-4 vote not to go down that slippery slope, even after sidewalk snow removal champion Daniel La Spata (1st) worked with the Departments of Streets and Sanitation and Transportation to narrow the test area from four zones to two to keep the costs under the $500,000 included in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2025 budget.

The $500,000 would have been enough to clear sidewalks seven times during snowfalls of 2 inches or more. In-house employees and equipment owned by the city and Chicago Park District would ha

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