BLUEFIELD — Snow-and-ice covered sidewalks across the region are becoming a problem for pedestrians and motorists alike.
Most sidewalks in Bluefield and Princeton are still impassable due to large accumulations of snow and sleet. A pedestrian was recently struck by a driver’s side window in Bluefield, which has led to the formation of a new pedestrian safety committee. A tow truck driver also was struck and injured by a vehicle on Interstate 77 last week.
Many pedestrians in the region have no vehicle or means of transportation, Craig Hammond, director of the Bluefield Union Mission, said.
“These are groups who sometimes have to walk to the store,” Hammond said. “A lot of my clients at the mission that we serve here — about 80 percent of them are walkers.”
Hammond said the new pedestrian safety committee was formed independent of the city.
“We are just a group that gets together and thinks of ways to improve pedestrian safety,” Hammond said. “We notice in some areas there are no sidewalks and pedestrians actually have to compete with trucks and automobiles to walk in the road. We are not here to cause trouble. We are actually here to assist the city in any way we can. We just want to be another resource to them.”
While pedestrian safety is a concern year round, the recent snow storms — including the blast of sleet and ice from this past weekend — has left most sidewalks impassable. As a result, law enforcement officials are urging motorists to be on the lookout for pedestrians walking along roadways.
“There seems to be more pedestrians walking on the edge of the roadway and the roadway to avoid the snow and ice piled up on the sidewalks,” Sgt. D.W. Miller, of the West Virginia State Police Princeton Detachment, said. “Be extra alert for pedestrians. I also have noticed especially over the last couple of days that the lanes are kind of narrowed down because of the ice building up, and the roadways aren’t as wide as they normally are.”
Miller said the only pedestrian accident authorities were aware of was the tow tuck driver who was struck around Exit 1 of Interstate 77 last week. Miller said the incident is being investigated by the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department.
Sidewalks also were still largely covered by snow and ice in Princeton Monday. City crews were working to try to clear a path to Melrose School.
“They are covered up pretty bad,” said Assistant Public Works Supervisor Jackie Phillips. “Most of the businesses are shoveling their own (sidewalks) off. We are going to try to help Mercer School with their sidewalks.”
Phillips said the city crews will try to help citizens with driveways after all of the main roads are clear.
According to city code in both Bluefield and Princeton, property owners are responsible for clearing sidewalks in front of their homes.
Hammond said the formation of the pedestrian safety committee in Bluefield was the result of a pedestrian being struck by a driver’s side window.
“The driver never had any idea he hit her,” Hammond said. “She’s OK, but that is what kind of sparked this group. We are addressing the idea that businesses and property owners realize it can be difficult, but we have to make our sidewalks acceptable to pedestrians. Right now, we are just a group of about five or six. But we are beginning to grow, and we just meet informally, and we just give some of our ideas to the city administration.”
Hammond said the group is hoping to do color-coded maps that will rank the conditions of sidewalks in the city in terms of excellent, good, fair or poor.
“Our whole purpose is to just help city leaders and decision makers, and to make them aware of the conditions of our sidewalks,” Hammond said.
— Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com
Local News
February 8, 2010
Snowy sidewalks make travel difficult
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