Sidewalk Snowplow Facts...

At the most recent meeting of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Committee, member Steve Harte reported back to the committee on what he had learned from the town DPW about sidewalk plowing. Safety Office Paul Sicard was also on hand to talk about his experience with snow and safety issues on the sidewalk. I thought these facts were interesting and worth sharing...did you know...

• Westwood has about 110 miles of sidewalks.
• The town clears snow from about 35 miles of sidewalks. This is limited to sidewalks within the school walking zones, as determined by the School Safety Officer.
• According to town bylaws (see below) it is illegal to push snow across a town street. This creates a mound of frozen snow on the side of a road which makes it difficult on the town plows when they come by.
• According to town bylaws it is illegal to push snow onto a sidewalk. This most often happens when someone plows a driveway, resulting in tall mounds on either side, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk down the sidewalk. According to Officer Sicard, the police have enforcement power only against the plow driver--they must observe the plow piling the snow--so they cannot ticket the property owner. They have enforced this bylaw in egregious situations where plows pushed snow off parking lots into big piles on the sidewalks.
• The town owns two types of sidewalk clearing equipment: a V-shaped plow that pushes the snow aside and a blower that throws the snow out of the sidewalk. The snowblower does an excellent job of clearing the sidewalks, as it removes the snow from the sidewalk, but is very slow. It would take too long to clear 35 miles of sidewalk with it after a storm. Typically the town uses the plow for most snowstorms. If there is a large amount of snow such that the snow just falls back into the sidewalk when using the plow, they will use the snowblower to clear the sidewalks. The snowblower has not been used this winter.
• Re-frozen snow from the mounds pushed out by driveway plowing creates a hazard for subsequent sidewalk plowing and can cause the plow vehicle to flip when it hits the mound of ice under the snow.

According to the Town Bylaws...

SECTION 3. Snow and Ice Removal. No person shall lay, throw, place or cause to be placed any snow or ice on any paved town street or sidewalk so as to create a hazardous condition or public safety concern. If, after having received notice from a duly authorized agent of the Town that such a condition exists, the owner of the property from which the snow or ice was removed (or his agent having charge thereof) fails to correct the condition within a reasonable amount of time, the owner or agent shall be deemed to be in violation of this Bylaw. Violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of Three Hundred Dollars ($300) or any cost incurred by the Town as a result of said violation or both.