Council Approves Sidewalk Snow Clearing Bill
Legislation requires plan to be developed to clear heavily-used sidewalks after a snowfall
The Montgomery County Council approved a bill Tuesday to develop a plan to clear snow on heavily traveled county sidewalks.
It won’t change the fact that private property owners are required to shovel the sidewalks on their property. However, it does ask that county transportation leaders create a plan to remove snow from heavily-used sidewalks on publicly-owned land.
These include sidewalks leading to bus stops, in school zones, along state highways and in urban districts. The bill also requires the county to create a digital map showing who is responsible for clearing which sidewalks in the county.
Another portion of the bill calls for a public information campaign to notify property owners of their own responsibilities for clearing snow.
The budget office estimated it would cost about $350,000 to create the map and another $100,000 for the direct mail public information campaign.
Councilmember Hans Riemer, the primary sponsor of the bill, said in a statement the plan will lay the groundwork to improve pedestrian safety in the county during the winter.
“We cannot claim to take pedestrian safety serious if we ignore it for three months of the year,” said Riemer, in a statement.
The bill does not force the county to remove the snow from all sidewalks on public property, but it will focus the county on prioritizing sidewalk snow removal and enable the government to budget appropriately, according to Riemer.
Riemer said the impetus of the bill came from a particularly harsh winter last year during which some sidewalks were buried in snow and ice for weeks.
The bill passed by an 8-1 vote, with Council Vice President George Leventhal opposing the bill.
