There are two models of thought when it comes to shoveling sidewalks. One is that, when left un-shoveled, the snow is considered an act of nature, and that a homeowner is not responsible for acts of nature. The other is that, once shoveled, it becomes the responsibility of the homeowner to keep the walks ice free. In essence, once human intervention is taken, it should be maintained.
I’m not sure which model the City subscribes to, as it relates to homeowner liability. I am sure that treks to the grocery store or post office become far more time consuming and certainly more dangerous when sidewalks remain covered in snow and ice.
Last night, after dinner at Mohawk, I walked past home to pick up a few items at the grocer. Few sidewalks had been cleared of the previous days snow. A days worth of foot traffic over the snow had created ridges of ice, making it difficult to navigate through both German and Merion Village.
Perhaps the lack of attention to sidewalks by homeowners is symptomatic of the City’s lack of attention to our streets. A behavioral model from the top down. While business routes should always receive attention first, the City of Columbus has a poor method of clearing residential streets, and both German and Merion Village residents suffer the consequences.
In Minneapolis, for example, the city restricts parking to one side of the street following the first snow fall. When plowing is required, within 48 hours after the snow stops, one side of every street is cleared to the curb. Once completed, residents must move their parked cars to the cleared side of the street, so that the remaining half of the street can be plowed. Seventy-two hours later, residential streets are cleared, all the way to the curb. When both sides of the street have been cleared to the curb, normal parking may resume.
When I suggested this model to the city as an example of efficiency, I was told that Columbus is too dense of a city for it to work. Too dense? In other words, not enough street parking to reduce it by 50% following a snow event. While such an example may require parking in a spot NOT immediately in front of one’s home, certainly there would be parking accommodations within reasonable reach.
Could it be that Columbus’ requirement of automobile ownership due to the lack of adequate and efficient public transportation is the reason our streets are lined with automobiles? Could it be that this automobile-dependent microcosm is, in fact, creating further inefficiencies for the the City’s public-works departments?
