Also, the most hazardous sidewalk is one that’s kinda shoveled and then melts and then ends up covered in ice. If you don’t shovel at all, and there’s a few inches or more of snow, you might be in violation of the law but it’s unlikely anyone will slip and fall.
For sidewalks I use products labeled as being safer for concrete and pets. There are a variety of different brands available. I usually put some down if the ice begins to build up.
I have also used kitty litter in the past for traction depending on conditions.
It’s a typical 1960s neighborhood…1/3 acre lots, paved road and curbs. The original presentation by the city to residents referred to “temporary easements” for the construction. My wife and I figure it’s fruitless to try to approach the issue from a legal angle. The project is funded and is proceeding.
Traffic is a bit heavier on our street than on the adjacent streets because it’s the only one that goes from one end of the neighborhood to the other, allowing drivers to cut through our development. Still, there’s lots of pedestrian traffic on our street. No pedestrian accidents of which I’m aware. I think the family that started the petition was just starting to teach the lad to ride a bicycle. (City ordinances DO allow bicycles on sidewalks here.)
I don’t have any great fear that we’re going to be liable for everything that happens on the sidewalk, but it’s something to consider. Plus, our two big dogs already bark at everybody who walks down the street. Now they’re going to be 10’ closer.
In two towns where I lived in Ohio, the home owner is liable for injuries on “maintained” pathways, but not “natural”. The idea being that if looks cleared, a person has a reasonable expectation that it’s safe. But if it’s just snow and bootprints, it’s self-evident that there’s danger.
Like I said, EXTREMELY local. Around here, there used to be a distinction between “negligent” clearing of snow. But the realization was that that encouraged owners to not even attempt to clear it.
Yeah, just one of those things about living in a community that you can’t control and just have to adapt to and deal with. At least they aren’t charging you for the sidewalk! Also, 1/3 lots w/ streets and curbs is different than much of what I encounter around Chicago. A lot of burbs have lots considerably smaller than 1/4 acre. I’m thinking sidewalks are more common than not where there are also curbs. Maybe not in the further out burbs where there are fewer places to walk to.
Decades ago I lived for a time on the suburbs of Reading, Pa. It was in an apartment complex so I didn’t have to worry about snow but a friend of mine lived in town, in a row home. You might get two cars in the width of his house.
No councilman lived on the street so it would be plowed late, if ever. He and his neighbors on that block would do just that. People would chip in money so they could rent a dump truck. All the able-bodied men would shovel and all the women would keep coffee, cocoa, and sandwiches coming and they’d move cars around until the street and every spot on it was clear.
Then some guy on the next block over started parking on the clear block. A note was left saying he had contributed neither money or labor, go park somewhere else. The next night he was there again so a more pointed note was left. The third night he parked there was bitterly cold so snow chocks were packed in fore and aft of all four wheels and the owner of the house the car was in front of got a garden hose out of the basement and played water over the offending car for hours until it was encased in three inches of ice.