EDITOR:

It’s been a tough winter trying to get around Escanaba on foot and driving. Granted we received a lot of snow early on, but by following our own ordinances and a little compliance, snow removal could have been more efficient. Parking is not allowed on city streets overnight. Yet plowing residential streets hasn’t occurred until morning or later, when cars are parked on the streets. Why ban parking overnight when plowing is not being done at that time? My street used to always be plowed at night. What changed this?

Parking is restricted to the west side of streets, and north side of avenues during the winter months. We are now into February and people are still parking on both sides of the streets, making narrow streets harder to traverse and plow during the day. Sidewalks are supposed to be cleared within 24 hours of a snowfall. Pedestrians are forced to walk in the streets because of the unshoveled sidewalks that remain.

I visited Sheboygan, Wis., this weekend. Winter parking rules there have people parking on the odd numbered side of the streets on the odd numbered date, and the even numbered address side on the even numbered date. Parking is allowed day and night with this method. I took a walk there on Sunday, and never once left the sidewalk. All were cleared. Now they have less snow than us, but still a fair amount. Just an observation from a citizen of Escanaba who hasn’t seen the pavement on his street since November.

Myron VanEffen

Escanaba