Village needs code on clearing walkways

Lombard doesn’t require residents or businesses to remove snow/ice from sidewalks except for downtown, therefore virtually all sidewalks are filled with snow every season until nature removes it. This forces pedestrians to walk in the road or use snow-filled sidewalks by trudging through deep snow, navigating ice or both, which is unsafe.

Essentially you must take your life into your hands or risk a serious fall to be able to walk anywhere, which shouldn’t be, because not everyone has a car or wants to drive on winter roads. Plus, many people like myself, a board-certified health and wellness coach, wish to do their best to maintain their fitness and reap the mental health benefits of being outside and shouldn’t be impacted unnecessarily by dangerous conditions

In addition, snow plows push up mounds of snow against curbs, making it either impossible or quite an adventure to climb up and over to cross a street, which also renders the ADA curbs useless. My condo complex is down the street from an assisted living community and I’ve witnessed residents regularly walk dogs from wheelchairs, which is now impossible.

Roads, for the most part, are taken care of right away, so clearly Lombard cares more about cars than people. In speaking with a representative of the village Public Works Department, they agreed with me but said “we just enforce the codes, we don’t make them.” It’s sad that you need a code for clearing snow and ice off sidewalks, and it’s not done by businesses and residents on their own to protect everyone.

However, if that’s what’s needed, let’s get a code that can be enforced to make sidewalks accessible after snowfalls and icy conditions occur in Lombard and throughout DuPage County pronto.

Melanie Jordan

Lombard