Cincinnati sidewalks and snow (Springfield, Mason: insurance, attorney, refrigerator)

[jonnyc1003]

My wife and I are going to be in Cincinnati tomorrow and my wife has a 20 mile training run to do. I'm wondering if anyone would be kind enough to let me know the state of the sidewalks in and around the city. Is there much snow/ice at all on them? Thanks in advance for any replies.

[Wilson513]

Sidewalks are still a mess in the suburbs. People are running in the street.

[kjbrill]

In my opinion they are close to bare pavement. Soon as I say that we will have, rain, ice snow, you name it for tomorrow morning, but I doubt it. Have a good time in Cincy tomorrow.

Excuse me if you were expecting bare sidewalks. No the sidewalks will not be bare. But the streets should be in shape for a training run. Sorry if I misrepresented things but this is Ohio you know and tomorrow is just the end of February, not yet March. Not expecting bare sidewalks here yet.

[Wilson513]

This is the sidewalk on my street at 6:21 pm tonight and since it is about 15 F it isn't going anywhere.

[Ohiogirl81]

People in Cincinnati are irrationally afraid of snow. They want no contact with it whatsoever. Therefore, sidewalks go unshoveled.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

People in Cincinnati are irrationally afraid of snow. They want no contact with it whatsoever. Therefore, sidewalks go unshoveled.

That is a reasonable conclusion. But we also do not expect these temperatures at the end of February. The neighborhood I live in has no sidewalks, so we obviously do not shovel them. A few doors from me is a Mason bike path. It will NOT be cleared. The city does a good job building the bike paths, but they are not designed to be plowed.

Far as the City (Cincinnati), yes you will NOT find bare sidewalks.

Somehow the previous responder said we are afraid of snow. No, not really, we just don't like it very much.

If you plan an event in Cincinnati at this time of year, you must consider the vagaries of the weather. This year has been abominable far as temperature. But until this past week, very little snow. So now we have snow everywhere. Perhaps you should have gone further south?

[Sarah Perry]

Even after 15 years, I still am amazed that NO ONE clears their sidewalks around here. Lexington had an ordinance that they had to be cleared in--as I recall--48 hours, and if a citizen complained about your uncleared sidewalk, the city would cite and fine you.

As an example of the attitude of total disregard, I almost had a fall a couple years ago on week-old snow packed into ice on the sidewalk of the Wyoming school district office on Springfield Pike. Seriously?

To the OP, you'd best be looking for an indoor alternative for that run. If that works for you at all.

[Wilson513]

Many folks are put off by the rule that although one has no duty to clear the sidewalk, if one does and it turns to ice as it did this week, one is personally liable for the injuries that result from the ice.

I made the mistake of plowing the two blocks from Liberty to 14th and back and overnight there was another light snow followed by freezing rain which left the sidewalks with an un-meltable, un-clearable 2" of ice. We did our best to mitigate it to little avail. Fortunately no one has been injured yet.

I'll be more careful in the future, and, I have a lot of liability insurance. But, unless one is prepared to insure the result, one should leave the sidewalks alone.

[motorman]

Agree with the dire commentary above. Our Cincinnati sidewalks are still too treacherous to traverse for any prolonged distance. As for myself (a senior-citizen who walks miles per day) this onslaught of snow plus ice has wreaked havoc on both my exercise and psyche. I simply hate being "trapped inside" like this and gaining weight by eating all too much out of sheer boredom.

My only advice (especially for older people) is to invest in both "Yaktrax" and an exercycle--and have someone you trust put a lock on the refrigerator door.

[Sarah Perry]

Originally Posted by Wilson513

Many folks are put off by the rule that although one has no duty to clear the sidewalk, if one does and it turns to ice as it did this week, one is personally liable for the injuries that result from the ice.

I made the mistake of plowing the two blocks from Liberty to 14th and back and overnight there was another light snow followed by freezing rain which left the sidewalks with an un-meltable, un-clearable 2" of ice. We did our best to mitigate it to little avail. Fortunately no one has been injured yet.

I'll be more careful in the future, and, I have a lot of liability insurance. But, unless one is prepared to insure the result, one should leave the sidewalks alone.

It's interesting to me to hear this perspective from an attorney, because I always thought the reasoning about clearing the walks and liability was so whack that I assumed the people who were saying it to me were just ignorant.

For better or for worse, it's just a shame to see pedestrians, many of whom probably cannot afford a pair of warm boots, trying to make their way through what's on the sidewalks at this point. I've said many times I prefer living here to living in Lexington, but I certainly wish their ordinance about clearing walks was replicated here. I'm guessing there must be a difference in actual state law, because an ordinance such as the one in Lexington that would open law-abiding citizens up to claims for wrong-doing wouldn't make any sense.