If you have slipped on your morning commute this winter, chances are you aren’t alone.
Some Prince George citizens with physical disabilities are worried about potentially falling and injuring themselves on icy sidewalks, and are choosing to stay in instead.
Julie Doknick, on medical leave for a bad back, thinks the effort to keep the sidewalks clear and usable is there but inconsistent.
“I’m always afraid out there. I never know when the sidewalks are going to be done or what shape they are going to be in because of the weather.”
“A lot of times I stay home, which impairs not just my physical exercise and my sunshine, a person also gets depressed and it’s physical. You’re afraid of slipping!”
Kanina Nesbitt, another concerned local, agreed the sidewalks are worrying.
“I have trouble walking, so I just tend to take my time. However for people who require walkers and wheelchairs it is not easy, or parents with strollers!”
City roads and fleets manager Blake McIntosh said the 4 units that plow sidewalks do not have the down-pressure to cut through ice.
He explained they try to compensate for that with road salt.
“The sidewalks generally follow the priority route system. So if they are adjacent to an arterial connector within a Priority One, they would be a Priority One and so on down the list.”
“The density of equipment we have for road clearing versus sidewalk clearing is definitely more on the road side of things.”
McIntosh added that, contrary to popular belief, Prince George does not require residents to clear sidewalks in front of their homes, saying instead that it’s actually the responsibility of the city too.
View Prince George’s Snow and Ice Control Policy Here: