City Issues 2,000 Warnings for Uncleared Sidewalks

The city has issued about 2,000 warnings to property owners for not clearing the sidewalks in front of their properties, but with many vacant buildings and a winter season with repeated storms, it's unlikely Cranston will ever see them all cleared before spring.

So far, the city has issued only eight citations, said Director of Administration Robin Muksian-Schutt. Typically, a warning from the city is enough to prod a property owner into action. 

But throughout the city, sidewalks remain uncleared, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street or trudge through dirty snow. And numerous bus shelters are essentially inaccessible because of large piles of snow.

In many cases, there is no property owner to cite for an uncleared sidewalk, Muksian-Schutt said. Or, just as soon as an area is cleared, another storm has come along and made a mess of things again.

"We're really just getting done cleaning up from one storm before another one hits," she said. "The other issue is we're spending [time] getting multiple feet of snow and ice off of storm drains to avoid major flooding situations. Meanwhile we're still dealing with the streets."

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is responsible for clearing bus shelters. But the agency has been dealing with several years of budget shortfalls and has been unable to keep up with the snow. In a release earlier this week, RIPTA announced many routes would be changed or cancelled because of "massive mounds of snow piles " along with cars blocking the roadway. 

And even if RIPTA were to clear the shelters, state plow crews clearing the streets would simply bury them again since they're so close to the road. 

"A lot of the bus stops are on state roads and the state has big plows that go through there, so it's very challenging," Muksian-Schutt said.

The city tries to clear the sidewalks in front of city-owned property as soon as it can, Muksian-Schutt said. It also will clear sidewalks along state roads if they are on school routes.

"If it's on a route to a school, we try to get our equipment out to do it, even on a state road," Muksian-Schutt said. "The safety of children is a top priority."

But the city has not been able to keep up this winter as storm after storm has piled on the snow. On Monday, the sidewalk in front of the old police station on Atwood Avenue remained unplowed. If it were to be plowed that day, that would mean city workers wouldn't have been out clearing storm drains or preparing for the storm on Tuesday. 

It boils down to a matter of priorities and resources, Muksian-Schutt said.

And like most municipalities, the priority in Cranston starts with the roads.