This New Hampshire Town is Feeling Neglected When it Comes to Sidewalk Clearing After Snowstorms

A big topic of our morning show lately has been SNOW. We're getting a boatload of it here in New Hampshire; way more than I can remember in the last few Winters. Because it just keeps snowing and it has stayed consistently cold it feels like we are running out of places to put the stuff.

Yesterday I was leaving Aroma Joes and I couldn't see if there was a car coming on my left because of the 5 foot tall barricade of snow also to my left. I inched closer into the road to be able to see, sure enough a car was coming. The driver looked at me like "What are you doing, lady? Are you nuts?" I understood their sentiment but at the same time, what the heck was I supposed to do?! I couldn't see them over the massive pile of snow!

Read More: This is the Best Hill for Sledding in Manchester, New Hampshire

At any rate, it's that time in the Winter where we are all starting to complain. Whether your street is being neglected by plow trucks or your neighborhood sidewalks are covered in ice, we are all feeling a little curmudgeon-y about the Winter and are ready for a 50 degree day so we can watch it all melt away (and hopefully not cause flooding. OY!)

This post on the New Hampshire Reddit page got a lot of engagement recently. Mostly because I feel like other uses could feel her pain. It said:

"Are sidewalks always this treacherous in winter? Moved here recently from a non-snowpocalypse state and I am surprised at how well the roads are taken care of and how horribly the sidewalks next to them are taken care of. Most of the ones around Dover are solid blocks of ice. I saw an old couple trying to help each other navigate back to their car and I was worried about them falling because I almost fell multiple times with hiking boots.

 

Are homeowners supposed to clear their sidewalks and/or would it kill them to sprinkle some salt on the sidewalk in front of their house? Why so icy lol"

The first comment that got 347 upvotes was: "wait. there's sidewalks in NH?" HILARIOUS, because there really aren't. It's a thing.

Who's responsibility is it to clear the sidewalks?

One Reddit user who seemed to know his/her stuff with the username Mediocre-Medic212 said: New Hampshire sidewalks on main downtown roads get cleared by the town in a small bobcat and occasionally get sand if there are many public businesses there. However if their home is not located on a Main street it can often turn into a icy mess. It's not expected that any private citizen would be required to shovel a sidewalk in-front of their house or more so try to maintain it with ice or sand at their own expense.

What are some low cost ways you can keep your sidewalk clear?

Someone commented that their dad used to save the ashes from their fireplaces and wood stove in a wooden bin outside and then put it on the ice in their driveway and walkway to melt the ice. Apparently ash hardens up like cement. Then when you wash it down in the spring and it actually fertilizes the soil around walkways instead of killing anything that grows. We love a resourceful tip that doesn't harm the ecosystem!

Stay safe out there, walkers. It might not be a bad idea to invest in a pair of MICROspikes for your boots. We don't want to see anyone falling and breaking a bone, ain't nobody got time for that.