Friday, March 29, 2024

Icy sidewalks are a challenge to locals and tourists alike

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Certainly, icy sidewalks are nothing new in the Bavarian Village. For some reason, it seems worse this winter, sparking a spirited debate on Facebook. It’s really been a combination of things, a record number of visitors, some snowfall, then consistent cold temperatures.
It’s all made for some slicker than normal sidewalks, despite the best efforts of merchants and the city. Just whose responsibility is it?
“On a piece of commercial property, the owner of the commercial building is responsible for the condition of the sidewalk, in terms of shoveling, putting ice melt down. Those types of things,” said Joel Walinski, Leavenworth city administrator. “There are a number of sidewalks the city will try and keep open. Not that it allows the property owner not to be responsible for those sidewalks, but we do assist on those because the council has deemed those are high priority sidewalks that need to be cleared.”
The city takes care of the sidewalks along U.S. Highway 2, then along the sidewalks considered part of the safe walks to school, including to Osborn Elementary School, etc.
“There are certain routes to school the city has identified that we tried to keep plowed off. Definitely, like the property owners, we spend a lot of time on Front Street, the park frontage is owned by the city so the city is responsible for those sidewalks,” Walinski said. “We spend a lot of time throwing Ice Bite down, chopping, plowing and grading the ice in that area.”
The big issue has been the soft snow, followed by the cold temperatures, he said. Before that, the sidewalks were melting during the day, then freezing at night, which caused a hazard.
There have been a fair number of falls due to the conditions, so who is liable?
“Whether the property owner or the city goes out and does their due diligence in terms of trying to clear snow, trying to put down Ice Bite and sand. As long as you have the records to show you’ve attempted to address the issue, that defers the liability the city or property owner might have on that sidewalk. That’s why it’s important to make an attempt,” Walinski said.
For the most part, the property owners do a good job, he said, probably 85-to-90 percent.
“Then, we have some absentee owners that absolutely do nothing. We also have some other owners that don’t do much at all. I would say the majority of the business owners really look at the sidewalks and realize that is part of their business. They want people to come to their store so they do a very good job at that,” he said.
Walinski said his office overlooks Visconti’s Restaurant. He sees those employees constantly working on the sidewalks. Walinksi said that is a good example of a business owner really taking care of the problem.
To be sure, it is often tough to keep up with the weather.
“If it only snowed between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., we would go out there and plow the snow and things would be perfect. Business owners would come in at 8 a.m. and shovel their walk and everything would be great,” Walinski said. “What happens is we have a busy day and it is snowing at 1 or 2 p.m. Then, the snow gets really compacted and it freezes at night. Then, we are really behind the eight ball. We meaning the city or property owners.”
This year, the city has been trying to pre-treat the sidewalks, like the WSDOT does on the highways. So far, it has not worked well, because it has been too cold.
“It is our first time around. I think when it warms up a bit and we use some of that solution on the ground, it will help it come up better. We are trying different methods to see what we can use to make it better,” he said.
Some people think the city should just install heated sidewalks all over town, but as you imagine, that is not exactly cost effective. Still, there are some heated sidewalks around town, which you may have discovered.
“There are actually three pieces owned by the city. Out by the train station, where you get off the train, that is heated. The sidewalk on 9th, coming down the hill by Front Street Park, that is heated. Then, the new section on Commercial, from 8th to entrance to Waterfront Park,” Walinski said. “There is the cost for the infrastructure and even at 3 cents per kilowatt, it is quite expensive.”
Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.

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