Celina King carefully watches her step as she ventures out onto the uncleared sidewalk near her home on Moncton Wednesday.
She’s still recovering from a back and hip injury she suffered after falling on ice two weeks ago.
“I always worry about head injuries, and you try to project yourself, but I went down so quick that I would have not had a chance to do anything to prevent it,” King said.
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King says she feels fortunate her injuries were not life-threatening, given that a 60-year-old man in Calgary died after falling on an icy sidewalk and hitting his head this week.
“That is so tragic,” she said. “It doesn’t need to happen in this day and age.”
Sidewalk maintenance in her neighbourhood has been very terrible this season, said King on Wednesday, with walkways packed with ice and snow.
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“We live in an area where there is a lot of people who are seniors and you worry about falls,” she said.
Jeff Scott, a general foreman with the City of Moncton, says that the weather this season has presented a challenge for sidewalk maintenance.
“The fluctuating temperatures are a challenge, mostly because when we get a warm spell, it has gotten cold very fast and beyond where salt would normally be effective,” Scott said, “so that makes it harder to get the ice dealt with.”
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He says they are putting down salt and sand for extra traction and are doing extra runs to try and keep the sidewalks clear. But he says that residents should be aware that conditions right now are potentially dangerous.
In particular, municipal staff can only clear about 60 per cent of the sidewalks in the city because that is all the snow removal budget will allow.
It’s an issue that Scott acknowledges is a challenge and King says is unacceptable, as people’s lives may be at risk.
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