Re: Nelson councillor wants snow-clearing priority for walking, biking routes, Jan. 27
I was delighted to read your report on Councillor Page’s proposal to prioritize the clearing of snow from the sidewalks on the city’s active transportation routes.
After the recent Supreme Court decision, I would have imagined that pedestrian safety would be the city’s highest priority. However, Mayor Dooley suggests that “This evolution of walking, cycling and sharing the road will take time.” The fact is that a lot of people walk the sidewalks of our city, and do not want to share the road with cars — especially in the winter.
As a retired couple, my wife and I choose to minimize our vehicle use. Instead, we rely on walking to the downtown core for buying groceries, accessing medical services — and staying fit! Most of our walks involve using the pedestrian sidewalk along High Street past the City Campground. There are no homeowners responsible for clearing snow from this busy section of sidewalk.
About a week after the big storm, city crews removed the majority of the accumulated snow on the sidewalk in conjunction with its road clearing efforts. However, on Jan. 14, we pedestrians were still walking on the roadway — the sidewalk being too slippery to use.
By Sunday Jan. 23, the ice hazard on the High Street sidewalk had become so extreme that I contacted the Nelson Police. The dispatcher told me he would inform the public works department, but added that it was unlikely the they would do anything about it on a Sunday.
Perhaps if a police officer had been dispatched to make an assessment, it might have led to some action. However, the following day, since nothing had been done, I called the public works department. But it still took two more days before the sidewalk was finally sanded.
I challenge Mayor Dooley, and those involved in setting snow-clearing policy, to spend a week being a pedestrian in our Nelson winter. Perhaps they would realize that prioritizing clearing snow and ice from city sidewalks is a matter of serious urgency.
It is not unreasonable to expect that at least one pedestrian route to the downtown core from each of Nelson’s neighbourhoods be plowed and sanded throughout the winter.
Alan Dodsworth
Nelson