Coudersport Residents Outraged at Lack of Sidewalk Upkeep
Bridge on Main Street in Coudersport
Editorial by Tim Hallman
Editor/Publisher CoudyNews.com
COUDERSPORT – As a result of the tragic accident that occurred this past Saturday, in which a mother and her daughter were severely injured when struck by a car, local residents have expressed anger, frustration, and outrage at the lack of sidewalk maintenance in town.
While it is still unclear whether or not mother Donna Thomas and her daughter Becky Thomas were walking in the road at the time of the accident, it is believed that they were, due to the lack of maintenance on the East Second Street Mike Franklin Bridge walkway.
Since the accident, many residents have called and emailed us, and with that I decided to investigate.
My journey began this morning as I walked from the Coudersport Post Office towards downtown. There was indeed one common denominator regarding most of the sidewalks in town; they were snow-covered and hard to walk on. Some sidewalks were completely shoveled, salted, and bare, such as the walk in front of Fastenal, while others showed a semblance of upkeep. However, many appeared to have been untouched since the beginning of winter, such as the one in front of the bowling alley.
I talked to several business owners and pedestrians.
My first stop took me to the COS Verizon store in town, where employee Jamie Fry was busy clearing the walk. I asked Jamie if she and her employer maintained the walk in front of the store on a consistent basis, and she told me they shovel the walk every morning beginning at 10:00 am when they open, if it has snowed. Fry said that despite this, they have received complaints in the past, since they do not begin shoveling until 10:00 am.
I continued walking west on Main Street and stopped at the bridge that spans from Water Street to Allegany Avenue. It was at this point that I happened across Joanne Benjamin, who was walking in the road. A quick look at the bridge and it was quite clear why Joanne was walking along road; the sidewalk on the bridge was nearly impassable by foot, with a good six to ten inches of snow covering it. The snow was packed down and covered by fresh snow in places. It was clumpy, and patches of ice, surely created from past foot tracks, made walking a chore to say the least. I can say from personal experience that this bridge is hardly ever shoveled.
Upon talking to Mrs. Benjamin she expressed disgust at the lack of upkeep, and told me she was walking in the road because the sidewalk was impossible to walk on.
She also told me that she has placed phone calls in the past to the local newspaper, the Borough office, and others, all without success. She went on to tell me that she was so fed up with the situation that she walked into the offices of the Potter Leader Enterprise not long ago, but was told to “write a letter to the Editor”, which she says she has done in the past. She said she unhappily exited their office that day stating to newspaper staff that, “you need to go out and shovel your walk too.”
I continued walking and came to Greely’s Auto. The sidewalk looked as if it had not been cleared at anytime in the recent past, and more troublesome was the fact that a truck with a snowplow sat parked in front of the store, blocking the sidewalk.
I placed a call to Coudersport Borough Manager Marlin Moore and asked whose responsibility it was to maintain the sidewalks on the three bridges in town. Moore told me it was PennDOT’s responsibility. He also stated that both businesses and residents have a 24 hour window after a snow storm to clear their sidewalks.
Next I spoke with County Maintenance Director Scott Majot, who confirmed that it was indeed PennDOT’s responsibility to maintain the walkways on the three bridges in town.
Majot explained to me that the roads are their number one priority, and that they simply do not have the staff to maintain both the roads and sidewalks. He said his department typically takes care of the sidewalks after the roads have been cleared, stating, “We only have so many people. We have to stop doing what we’re doing. We have to make the decision, either take a truck off the road that is going to plow something like Dutch Hill and Dingman Run to take care of those sidewalks, or make sure the roads are safe.”
“You can walk in snow,” said Majot, “but driving in it is another matter.”
Majot went on to say that most other Boroughs, such as Genesee and Galeton, simply take care of those small portions that are technically PennDOT’s responsibility. He said those Boroughs just continue over the bridges when clearing the sidewalks, but that Coudersport Borough does not.
He also explained that in order for a PennDOT worker to clear those sidewalks, they would need to stop their trucks and unload equipment, such as snowblowers. A task he says is time-consuming and takes away from maintaining the roads.
Majot did say that he expects the second shift crew today to be out taking care of the sidewalks on the bridges, but was not certain if it would be possible, as another one to three inches of snowfall is expected this evening.
Next I asked Coudersport Chief of Police Lee Gross if they had cited residents and business owners in the past for not maintaining their sidewalks. Gross told me they have not, but they expect to begin ticketing those who do not adhere to the twenty-four hour maintenance requirement this year.
As I write this, one thing seems clear; much attention has been focused on the lack of sidewalk maintenance in Coudersport following Saturday’s tragedy, and I would expect the lack of maintenance situation to improve.
As a final thought, I cannot help but to think of many ways that we as a community could improve the task of clearing sidewalks without spending more tax dollars or hiring additional staff. One such thought is utilizing work-release eligible inmates from the local jail, who routinely are released from the jail to shovel the sidewalks at the courthouse.
Perhaps various local agencies could coordinate an effort to establish a program where these same inmates would be afforded a furlough during the day to shovel sidewalks.
