Walking in Salem in the Winter

The Salem News followed up on my earlier blog post, The Most Dangerous Bus Stop in Salem;  Tom Dalton’s article, “Worst Bus Stop in Salem?” touched on most of the points I made.  The Mayor’s office is looking at a few things they can do;  one thing they can’t do, according to the MBTA, is put a bus shelter there.  As I’ve suspected, there is no room on that sidewalk.

The solutions available are to reroute the 450 and 456 buses to go through the parking lot to Market Basket, as Market Basket has asked for, or simply to plow the sidewalk. 

My colleagues and I in the Salem Commission on Disabilities all agree that we should not let this drop when the last snow melts this season.  There are numerous other places on Highland Ave. that are problems for pedestrians, such as at Wal-Mart ,and the inbound lane across from CVS on Essex St. and we need to look at them all.

I’m glad, of course, that Tom Dalton put a spotlight on this issue, and the Commission, but I must move on to other problems. 

One glaring problem all winter has been the sidewalk at the one-hour lot outside Museum Place, seen in the photo  above.  Except for a brief period in December when the snow melted, it has been impassable all winter.  St. John’s Church does not clear its sidewalk on the opposite side, and the street itself is very narrow.

It’s no less dangerous than Highland Ave. to a pedestrian in the winter.  And it is the route I take to SATV every day.

Lastly, here is a photo that illustrates what the Commission has to contend with in the winter:

This was taken on Sunday morning outside the Zisson elderly housing complex at the Salem YMCA [and the space belongs to the SHA, not the Y—correction.]  Note the high snowbanks, that would make it difficult for those in a chair van to navigate.

Also note the parked car (I’ve obscured the plate.)  Current HP placards are hung from the rear-view mirror;  I didn’t see one. 

My colleague Dave Martel has been after the Y to shovel its HP spaces;   he’s a reader of my blog, I wonder what he’ll find?

Update:  I’ve heard from Dave;  the city or its plowing contractor at the Y is doing a better job this year.  We may yet get through the rest of this winter without a serious problem.