Waltham resident Eamon Dawes cuts through Peter Gilmore Playground every day to take the bus to work.
Following Thursday’s mixed bag storm of snow, slush and ice, Dawes noticed the sidewalks at the playground weren’t cleared — so he grabbed a shovel and did it himself. He posted it about it on Reddit.
“Anytime it snows, it just gets tamped down with everyone else walking along this path and it just becomes messy, icy, slushy, the city never plows it, no one ever shovels it,” Dawes told GBH News. “I went over and cleared the path so folks could at least walk through a little bit.”
Waltham’s Department of Public Works confirmed to GBH News that it is their responsibility to clear sidewalks at parks and playgrounds, but schools come first.
The city’s website states whenever there is “a significant snowfall,” the city will send crews to plow sidewalks “as soon as possible on selected roadways and school routes.”
But Dawes said he expects to be back out with his shovel after the next storms roll through.
Sidewalk clearing is crucial for residents who use a wheelchair, have kids in a stroller, have mobility issues, or simply want to safely take a walk.
Each city and town has its own regulations about shoveling — including tickets for neglecting to do so.
Nearly 2,000 tickets have been given out for sidewalk clearing violations in residential areas in Boston just this year alone, according to a public works database. There have been more than 200 complaints on the Boston 311 system about blocked sidewalks in the past week.
Property owners in Boston have three hours after a storm ends to remove ice and snow, or three hours after daylight if the storm was overnight. Fines start at $50, and each day the snow isn’t cleared is a new fine.
In Somerville, clearing must be done within six daylight hours . The city has given out about 250 tickets for snow removal violations so far this year. Nick Antanavica, director of inspectional services, said that number could double with just one storm.
“Definitely with a significantly higher amount of precipitation, we would anticipate a higher amount of violations” Antanavica said. “With a storm like this [upcoming one], we could see anywhere, you know, between 200 and 300 violations at any point.”
Somerville’s fines start at $100.
Antanavica said most residents who don’t shovel can expect a ticket, as inspectors regularly go out to check compliance. They start in vulnerable spots such as assisted living facilities and hospitals, then move to daycares, schools and city buildings.
“It really comes down to safety and access. These are public ways that people use to get around our city and to get places. If they’re not cleared properly, if they don’t have ice taken away, if they don’t have the snow taken away, then we’re reducing the mobility throughout our city,” Antanavica said.
Clear sidewalks also pave the way for people with disabilities to get to bus stops.
Taramattie Doucette, a senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, which represented clients in a class lawsuit on MBTA accessibility, said winter storms can send residents into “panic mode.”
“People need to maneuver and navigate sidewalks to go to the store,” Doucette said. “And most of our clients, I should say, or the people we serve, use public transportation.”
Joanne Daniels-Finegold, who uses a wheelchair, is one of the named clients on the landmark case, which was settled in 2006.
“We want to live like everybody else. We want to be part of the community like anybody else ... there’s a lot of moving parts in these lives, including snow removal.”
