GloucesterTimes.com, Gloucester, MA

Letters/My View

February 20, 2013

Letter: City lax in clearing its own sidewalks

To the editor:

Once again, winter is upon us and until recently, we have managed to survive most of the season with a minimum of snowfall.

The situation has, however, changed over the past two weekends with two significant snowstorms on consecutive weekends that deposited a great deal of snow on the streets and sidewalks of our city.

The city has done an exemplary job of clearing snow quickly and efficiently from the city streets. However, as a person who does a great deal of walking about the city. I feel I must call attention to the poor job of clearing the sidewalks.

Private citizens are required to clear the walks in front of their properties and many do. It is unfortunate, however, that no action seems to be taken against the property owners who do not, thus forcing pedestrians to walk in the streets which is both inconvenient and dangerous.

I would also like to call attention to the fact that it would be very difficult for the city to hold these citizens responsible when many businesses are not responsible enough to clear their walks. Then again, it must be pointed out that the city might have a difficult time enforcing this ordinance since the city itself fails to clear the walks around its own public properties — such as the park on Main Street across from Lee’s Restaurant, or the public parking lots on Middle Street to name a few.

It seems as if the only place the city of Gloucester cares about the safety of pedestrians is in the immediate downtown area.

PAUL DUMAS

East Main Street, Gloucester

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