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Letters  

Snow clearing on sidewalks

The sidewalks and intersections in Kelowna are a disaster.

The Kelowna bylaw states (the city) is responsible for clearing snow from sidewalks that are on city property. Traffic Bylaw 8120, Section 2.5. 1 requires the owners or occupiers of a property to remove snow and ice from the sidewalks bordering their property within 24 hours.

I phoned to complain about the situation (following the last snowfall) as I and others use scooters and walkers to get around. The person the city sent to investigate told me it looked as though they did try. Nonsense.

The woman I talked to at the city yards had a problem even knowing where the Capri Centre was and what sidewalks I was talking about. These are sidewalks beside businesses. Also, nothing was done about the crosswalks at the intersections.

It is bad enough during the non-snowy times in this city if you are handicapped, but during the winter do they expect us to stay inside until it melts?

As an aside, I (also) sent two emails to city council regarding some of the issues needing attention in this city regarding access to crosswalks and walk signals, even in the spring and summer months.

At the pedestrian crossings, there is no way for a handicapped person to even know if the signal is even working. One incident I observed was a nine or 10-year-old boy almost wiped out by a city bus because of the positioning of the walk button and the time it takes to hit the button and then make (across) the crosswalk.

In another situation, for some unknown reason, the walk button was placed between the pole and the road, instead of facing the sidewalk.

Council did not even acknowledge receiving either email.

I would like city council members to follow me in a scooter even for a couple of hours and maybe they will understand the challenges of this city.

Douglas Greenwood



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