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Clear streets, icy sidewalks

24055goldenstarIcysidewalks_web
A creation of snow

With the above average snowfall in and around Golden, it has been quite a year for snow removal crews around town. We are fortunate enough to have amazing streets to drive on as the snow is essentially removed as the flakes hit the pavement. But what about our sidewalks? Some of them are not up to par.

At the Town Council Meeting on February 15th, Councillor Kuljit (Jita) Jaswal brought it to the attention of council and staff that there were a few folks, both young and elderly, who were finding it difficult to navigate their way on Golden sidewalks.

“There were no massive complaints, but people were just curious to know why our streets are so clear, but some sidewalks are not,” Councillor Jaswal said at the meeting.

Part of the issue has been in front of businesses while many side street sidewalks are much worse; icy ruts and slush make each step a wary one. Although storefronts are the responsibility of the businesses, the town has sporadically been clearing the sidewalks in the downtown core; this is a kind gesture, but a gesture that some businesses may have become used to and now expect.

“Doing so (clearing snow in front of businesses) has its advantages, being the appreciation of the business sector and the good will of our staff. Its disadvantages include a misled expectation that it is the town’s responsibility to do this, the resentment when it does not, and the occurrences of properties not doing it themselves as a result,” Manager of Corporate Administration for the Town of Golden, Jon Wilsgard said.

As for residential sidewalks, there is no bylaw in place that states the sidewalk’s winter maintenance is the responsibility of the resident.

“In many communities, it is explicitly stated in bylaws that sidewalk frontage in residential areas is the responsibility of the resident; however, in a place like Golden, the crews have endeavoured to provide this service when they can, bearing in mind we have a small crew and competing priorities,” Wilsgard added.

With the town always attempting to promote “active transportation”, and with many sidewalks in terrible condition, this lifestyle is often hard to follow.

“The town tries to promote active transportation as much as possible, so taking care of this matter is very important. I realize that it has been an exceptional year, but that is not an excuse. I brought the matter up to bring attention to the town’s concerns, and I believe the problem is being looked at,” Jaswal added.

In fact, part of the problem has been a mechanical one. Back about two weeks ago, when Golden was in the middle of the massive snowfall, the town’s mini-plow broke, helping to contribute to the snowy issue on our sidewalks.

“On a day when we got four or five inches of snow, our plow broke a pin, making it unusable. This has been part of the problem,” Manager of Operations for the Town of Golden, Chris Cochran said, trying to explain the treacherous sidewalks.

With the machine temporarily out of service, the sidewalks that would have usually been cleared became packed down and encrusted with ice. Now that the machine is back in action, the hard packed snow cannot be lifted free from the concrete.

“To loosen the hard pack from the sidewalks we will have to physically shovel gravel (a mixture of sand, gravel and a hint of salt) onto the problem areas. This should loosen things up enough for us to scrape it off with the plow,” Cochran explained.

The Town’s action plan is now in place. So, if we all do our own part at helping out with our sidewalks, even if it may not be our duty, it shall be a grand finale to winter as spring is just around the corner.