You can still get stuck in the snow on National but walking might be worse…
I read the story Citizens, city at odds over street plowing with a great deal of interest because over here in my part of South Toledo, days after the last snow storm there is still enough snow on the street that people are still getting stuck. Thursday night as I was getting a ride home from a friend, she got stuck when trying to navigate the corner of Atlantic and Nelson because the snow there is still deep. My pushing alone was not enough to extricate her and has happened too many times to count on this street the past few weeks, someone saw our struggle and helped. His extra push power got us free.
The warmer weather of the past two days only seems to have made more ice, which you discover when you try to walk. A good number of the sidewalks over here have not been shoveled, with the only reason there is a path is because of the foot traffic has trampled down the snow, which in many spots is now very icy. Several danger spots are on Arlington, it’s a route that children have to walk to either catch their bus to get to the temporary Arlington, Byrnedale or to walk to the new Bowsher. There is a rental unit and an ice cream shop that have not shoveled nor salted, as just one example, it’s an accident waiting to happen as it would be very easy for a person to slip and fall in front of an oncoming car or bus.
This is not the only area of Toledo like that, and while the City can say it’s met it’s goal for this area since even with as bad as it is we are:
“Our goal is for everyone to be within two to three blocks of salted and plowed streets,” he ( David Welch, commissioner of the city division of streets, bridges, and harbor) said. “People think they’re paying [taxes] to get every street plowed and salted, but they’re paying for the service we provide.”
It’s also clear that it’s more than just the City who is not doing what some believe should be done, some of the businesses, landlords and residents are not doing what they are supposed to do either and it does not appear that the City is doing anything to enforce the current laws regarding sidewalks on busy streets where there is a safety concern. I understand they don’t have the manpower to enforce this on the smaller side streets, but there should be a focus on streets where there is traffic that are main school routes.
Then again, if those who actually owned these buildings followed the law? The City wouldn’t have to do anything…
I was wondering the same thing. There clearly have been many opps to clean the side streets, yet they are still pretty bad.
January 24th, 2009 at 2:16 pmI wonder why the city does not do some enforcing of the snow removal laws. You are supposed to have your walk cleared within 24 hours of a snowfall. There are walks that have never been touched all winter and now they are covered with a sheet of ice which makes walking very dangerous. For those who have children walking to school or don’t have a car this is a real problem.
If the city is looking for $$ they could find it here. Maybe instead of ticketing downtown at the meters they should send those employees out in the neighborhoods. A parking ticket downtown is about $10 but I think the ticket for not removing snow is $75. With another 6 inches on the way the city needs to put the children first!
January 27th, 2009 at 9:18 amThe city could make a fortune on my street, if they started to ticket people for not shoveling their walks. I’m highly irritated with the property owners on the corner who never shovel their walk, never mow their grass, and when they take out garbage it’s never put in bags so the garbage men refuse to take it and it ends up getting strewn down the street.
January 27th, 2009 at 2:15 pm