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I am very concerned about the condition of the sidewalks in Bangor in winter weather. In our neighborhood they have consistently been left unplowed for three to four days after each snowfall. Even when plowed, the sidewalks are not cleared to the pavement, nor are they sanded or salted, so a layer of snow is left on the surface. The footing is very uneven and often icy, often long after a snowfall.
For anyone with mobility issues due to age or disability this leads to some difficult choices. Do we forgo walking outdoors or going out on errands, if it requires unsafe walking conditions? Becoming homebound is not a good choice — it leads to poor mental and physical health outcomes.
Do we walk on the sidewalks anyway and risk a fall? For older people, one fall can lead to unhappy consequences, as I recently experienced when my partner had a fall that took weeks to recover from. Do we walk in the streets, which are very quickly and thoroughly cleared of snow and ice, but risk being hit by a vehicle?
I am not a proponent of more salt and sand, due to the negative impacts on the environment, but if we can commit to using them for cars, we should be willing to use them for pedestrians. Or perhaps we should be looking at the “shared streets” concept and let all modes of transportation use the streets.
Karen Marysdaughter
Bangor