Post updated at 11:23 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 16:
Snow-ridden sidewalks and bus stops around Lawrence have raised accessibility concerns for pedestrians, but the city says it does not have the resources to clear all areas.
Lawrence Municipal Services and Operations is responsible for pretreating and treating city infrastructure during winter weather.
MSO deployed 16 trucks — 12 dump trucks and four flatbeds — with spreaders and plows during shifts to clear priority streets and then head to residential roads after Lawrence received nearly a foot of snow the weekend before last. Lawrence Parks and Recreation also contributed with some snow removal vehicles.
But mounds of snow on curb cuts created by city plows and snowy and icy sidewalks around Lawrence Transit stops have been difficult for people, especially those with physical limitations or mobility devices, to navigate.
Lawrence resident Andrew Brown wrote a letter to the Times pointing to the dangers. He said pedestrians were having to maneuver around or attempt to climb over the mounds.
He wrote that some snow piles were more than 6 feet tall with compacted ice, making them impossible to get over and rendering sidewalks inaccessible for anyone using wheelchairs, walkers, rollators, canes, baby strollers or wagons.
“I would ask the city to become more aware of the hazard of pushing and creating giant snow mounds in front of curb cuts and how much that put everyone at risk,” Brown wrote.
Another community member who uses a walker spoke to the Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday, saying he’d had to walk an extra 100 yards or so to get on the bus. He said conditions were “inhumane, or actually unsafe,” and that they made it three times harder for him to get to bus stops.
Michael Leos, a spokesperson for MSO, said although the city acknowledges “the inconvenience this poses for transit riders,” the city does not have the personnel nor the budget to address snow and ice at every bus stop. He recommended using the nearest driveway or cleared area to board.
“When the bus approaches, position yourself where the driver can easily see you, and our skilled drivers will do their best to accommodate these situations,” Leos said via email. “We appreciate the community’s patience and understanding as we continue working to improve our winter weather operations.”
Several residents reached out to the Times to voice frustrations that their neighborhoods were not serviced for days after the blizzard, or that they were poorly serviced. Others reached out to express gratitude for the city’s work.
This particular winter storm presented new challenges, according to Leos, due to the amount of snow, layer of ice underneath and the bitter cold temperatures. Crews out plowing also encountered stranded or parked vehicles.
“In many cases, vehicles became stuck or broken down, and those individuals left their vehicles in the way of our plow teams,” Leos said.
Additionally, he said, hard packed ice that was discovered on residential roads during cleanup wouldn’t budge, especially when low temperatures at night made it refreeze.
“Our plows cannot remove ice that is that compacted, so our teams are working to treat those areas with salt and letting the sun do its thing,” Leos said. “Once we have some movement, we can bring our plows back out to remove that layer of ice.”
The day after the blizzard ended, a Monday, the city reminded property owners of their obligation to remove or treat snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their property by “first thing Wednesday morning at the latest.”
But in many cases, neighborhoods were not yet cleared for residents to get out. Although the city aims to plow as close to curbs as possible, mounds of snow were left at windrows at the end of driveways as well as sidewalk areas next to streets. And according to the city’s snow and ice control plan, the city does not clear alleyways or windrows at the end of driveways.
Brown said those windrows, especially when hardened, can block in-home nursing or health care assistants from getting to their patients. He said he was also concerned for pedestrians navigating snow piles on sidewalks while pushing shopping carts or baby strollers.
“I know there’s only so much the city is responsible for, but I just thought, you know, if the city was serious about having accessibility and mobility in all kinds of weather and things like that, and we have all these curb cuts, the curb cuts have to be made accessible for people, regardless of the assistive devices,” he said.
The city is responsible for snow removal on sidewalks adjacent to city-owned properties, including parks, fire and police stations, recreation facilities, City Hall, and many of the bus stops.
City crews also remove snow on sidewalks around downtown Lawrence city parking lots and 10-foot-wide shared-use paths across town.
Crews are still responding to calls about snow and ice on public streets and are not targeting any one specific area, according to Leos. They suspended their overnight, 24-hour response on Saturday.
Leos had not yet responded as of the time of publication to questions regarding the obligations of apartment complex property owners or private business property owners to clear parking lots and walkways.
The city ordinance, however, says property owners can face fines of $20 per day in addition to court costs for violations.
The city’s code enforcement division handles violations on a complaint basis rather than a staff-initiated basis, according to the ordinance. Call 785-832-7700 or submit an online form via SeeClickFix to make a complaint.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
