Politics

City crews, sidewalk users upset with all the snow in La Crosse

Published

5 years ago

March 4, 2019

Wheelchair users Mike Byers (left) and David Peters complain about lack of snow shoveling to the La Crosse Board of Public Works

It snowed eight days in January and 12 days in February, sending La Crosse city crews out to clean sidewalks.

They’re finding it hard to stay ahead of the next snowstorm and people who already have challenges getting around are fed up.

The city board of public works heard Monday from two friends who use wheelchairs, which are often too wide to get through the narrow paths shoveled on residential streets.

The wheelchair users, Mike Byers and David Peters, have heard businesses talk as if they don’t care.

Byers said many walks in his part of town are only cleared wide enough for one pass by a shovel — about 10 inches — while his wheelchair is nearly 3 feet wide.

City snow removal manager Doug Kerns said this season’s weather has been brutal for trying to get ice off the sidewalks but they’ll send crews out to open up more walks that haven’t been shoveled enough.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.