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MOUNT VERNON — Even before Winter Storm Fern dumped 14 inches of snow in Knox County, a Knox Pages reader asked who is responsible for clearing the snow from the shared-use path on Mansfield Avenue.
Mount Vernon Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers said the city does not clear snow or treat the path.
“While this path serves as an excellent option for alternative transportation, it functions essentially as a large sidewalk,” he said.
“Consistent with our standard practices for sidewalks, the city does not perform snow removal or ice treatment on the path.”
Salyers said the city’s public works crews prioritize snow removal and treatment on roadways and critical infrastructure.
“In addition, we focus efforts on certain key areas, particularly our commercial corridors, to support safe access and economic activity,” he said.
Responsibility for sidewalks, including those in downtown areas and along Coshocton Avenue, falls to property owners and private entities.
“Community partners such as the Ariel Foundation and Experience Mount Vernon, along with private companies and individual business owners, play a vital role in coordinating and performing sidewalk snow removal in targeted downtown zones,” Salyers said.
“This collaborative approach extends citywide as residential property owners are responsible for maintaining the sidewalks adjacent to their properties. Snow removal remains a true team effort involving the city, the private sector, and our residents working together to keep our community clear of snow and accessible.”
Ongoing snow removal discussions
Salyers said discussions about potentially expanding snow removal services to additional commercial corridors are ongoing. However, he noted that any such expansion involves careful consideration of resource allocation and opportunity costs.
“Funds or staff hours dedicated to expanded sidewalk or path snow removal would mean fewer resources available for other essential services, such as roadway plowing or infrastructure maintenance,” he said.
“With limited resources, we must remain realistic and prioritize based on community needs and overall impact. We continue to evaluate options that balance safety, fiscal responsibility, and service delivery.”
The bigger picture
Joe Porter, mobility manager through Knox Public Health, wants people to see the whole picture when it comes to snow removal: that cars aren’t everything.
Porter’s route to work takes him along Beech Street and Vernonview Drive.
“There’s folks that have plowed or shoveled their sidewalks out and it’s all really, really nice, but there at Vernonview and Beech, you can’t get on the sidewalk because the sidewalk approaches are plowed shut,” he said.
“We seem to have this thing that we’ve got to get our cars there, and we forget about people that don’t have the ability to get a car there. So we plow sidewalks shut, and we throw up big piles of snow on the sidewalks and stuff like that.”
Porter noted that Knox County Transit offers free fares on its fixed routes. However, to use that service, you must be able to reach a shelter.
He said the lack of access at crosswalks and sidewalks violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Additionally, the lack of snow removal prevents access to fire hydrants.
Porter said that much of what’s referred to as “active transportation,” a major goal of municipalities’ Complete Streets policies, relates to people walking from point A to point B.
However, it includes not only foot traffic but also wheelchairs, bicycles, and individuals using walkers.
He cited seeing a woman carrying groceries who presumably walked north on Vernonview on the sidewalk. However, when she headed west on Beech Street, she walked in the road because she could not access the sidewalk.
“She had to walk on the street,” Porter said.
Safety factors
Porter cited a colleague whose children attend East Elementary School.
“People are walking on the road because there’s no access to the sidewalks. Why do we have kids walking on the road?” Porter asked.
“We’re all about we drive to get there, but there are a lot of people who don’t drive to get there. They either don’t want to drive to get there or they can’t drive to get there, and we’re making them homebound in a way.”
Mobility manager joe porter
Sidewalk issues aren’t limited to Mount Vernon.
A Centerburg parent asked on social media whether any neighbor was available to walk his daughter to school because the girl was uncomfortable walking alone in the street. He had to return to work and could no longer walk with her.
Porter said that it’s all well and good to state that pedestrians have the right-of-way and that drivers must be conscientious. However, he said that when a pedestrian is in a place a driver does not expect them to be and is struck, it doesn’t matter what the law says.
“Regardless of whose fault it is, somebody’s dead or injured. The solution can lie in that pedestrian not being where that car is expected to be,” he said. “When we block these right-of-ways, these walkways and stuff like that, that’s exactly what’s happened.”
Education and awareness
Porter plans to send letters to businesses throughout the county “to stimulate people to think” about snow removal.
For example, many business property owners hire lawn services to clear snow from their parking lots.
“From the business-owner’s standpoint, property owner standpoint, a lot of them probably either don’t know or have forgotten that sidewalk is a property owner’s responsibility,” Porter said.
“The people that are clearing the parking lots, they might have to be a little better educated to where they’re realizing that they are actually blocking pedestrian access whenever they push all that snow up against the sidewalk approach.”
Porter said there are solutions that would help with sidewalk snow removal, but it’s not a priority for most people “because we’re all about driving.”
He suggested equipping the city’s park tractors with push-blade or snow-blower attachments and using seasonal workers to clear snow from a few of the busier sidewalks.
Snow accumulation to the level indicated on the city’s snow emergency signs (when vehicles cannot park on the street) would trigger the use of the city’s tractors.
Porter also noted that a good first step is to recognize that we often forget. Additionally, for the most part, nobody asks.
He cited a neighbor’s son who asked to shovel Porter’s front deck and sidewalk.
“That was a young man who took some initiative and enjoyed doing the stuff, and I think that’s part of it, too. We don’t ask, and we’re not conscious or folks aren’t seeing what’s going on out there,” Porter said.