The winter’s first snow is gone from most sidewalks.
Thank Mother Nature for that. Not your fellow Westporters.
Several days ago — after a few inches fell here — alert “06880” reader Tracy Yost ventured out. She calls her journey on Cross Highway and Main Street “harrowing.” Only 4 homeowners had shoveled their sidewalks.
Cross Highway …
The next day she tried to walk at Compo Beach. Those walkways were not clear either.
This being 2016, Tracy did the natural thing: She posted on Facebook. She described her frustration, and asked what she could do about it.
Reaction was swift. Several people thought that homeowners are required to clear “one shovel width” of their sidewalk. Others noted that in Norwalk and Fairfield, that’s definitely the law.
Tracy followed up with Westport town and officials. Lo and behold: The same 15 guys who plow are responsible for clearing sidewalks. They begin with schools and town buildings, so regular sidewalks are clearly not Priority 1.
… and the new Main Street sidewalk. (Photos/Tracy Yost)
Tracy suggests that homeowners do the right thing anyway, and shovel the walks in front of their homes.
“For some people — the elderly come to mind — walking is the only way to exercise, see people, get food, go to the doctor,” she says.
“For others — like me — it’s a way to walk the dogs, check in on neighbors, use the car less.”
For everyone, of course, safe streets — including clear sidewalks and slow driving — make for a better community.
Or, as Bridgeport mayor Jasper McLevy famously said when asked when his city would begin plowing: “God put the snow there. Let him take it away.”