UPDATE: Thursday afternoon: "The sidewalks have been cleared, especially the little section that never is!!!Yay!!"
First off, the city has done a great job clearing all the snow after Tuesday's storm, but it was very surprising when neither sidewalk along 4th avenue east was cleared this morning as of 8:40, between 10th St East and St. Mary's hill.
A lot of children walk this route to school, and were forced to walk on this busy street.
What makes the situation more upsetting this winter, is the west section of the 4th Ave. East sidewalk, in front of the burnt out 10-plex building. This section of sidewalk between the hill and 14th Street East is never fully cleared. Lately, the large ServiceMaster Restore cube vans have been parking on the street as they work on the destroyed houses in the area, forcing children to walk in the middle of the street in order to get to thecrossing guard stationed at the intersection of 4th Ave and St. Mary's hill.
I walk my 7 year old to school every day along with my 19 month old toddler, and we've had a few scary close calls with vehicles and slippery conditions as they turn onto the avenue from the hill. This is the first year that we have had issues with the clearing of this sidewalk and hope the city will clear this small section between St. Mary's hill and 14th Street East.
Jody Johnson Pettit
