M. Vasiliauskas: Clean up the sidewalks

Great picture of Leopold Soucy shoveling his apartment sidewalk on Walnut Street in Lewiston (Feb. 13). The man obviously takes tremendous pride in ensuring his part of the world is presentable and safe.

Soucy is a throwback to the old days of residents taking pride in their properties. As an avid walker of the downtown Lewiston area, I can attest to an overall lack of proper snow removal of its sidewalks, therefore forcing all walkers into unsafe walking conditions along the streets. From my perspective, residential and business properties are guilty of that lack of civic duty. Certainly, not all are irresponsible; some take the time to do proper clean-ups and I am grateful

The city's sidewalk cleaners do an adequate job. It is up to the rest of us to get our able bodies out there to clean up and make sidewalks safe.

It would be nice to see all sidewalks presentable for everyone to enjoy the beauty that Lewiston has to offer. Some of us like to get exercise; some to frequent historical buildings, do shopping or simply to get from point A to point B. Getting there safely shouldn't be the problem.

I hope Soucy keeps up the good work. He has inspired more downtown area residents, young and old alike, to grab a shovel and take pride in their walkways.

Mark Vasiliauskas, Greene

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Comments

cjinxed's picture
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Cleared sidewalks or not, the

Cleared sidewalks or not, the Lewistonites always walk in the middle of the road. /sigh

mgr's picture
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I think the world will

I think the world will survive if not all the sidewalks get snow removal.

Perhaps is more important for these individuals to put food on their tables and heat their homes than provide you with a clear walking path.

In my opinion, this letter is a bit selfish on your part – it is all about you and your exercise – get real.

2077822587's picture
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Oh the sidewalk plow memories.....

Back in the nineties, I had the pleasure of being the yard guy for our large bakery down town. I spent my days running trailers back and fourth between Cedar St. and Park St, with an occasional visit to the ever fun loading dock on Lisbon St. In the winter months this job became even more interesting with the snow. I have to admit, the city did a fantastic job plowing the sidewalks on Park St. To good of a job actually.
Back in the eighties, the city passed an ordinance or something, due to neighbors complaints, making it illegal to run the front wheels of the truck up on the opposite sidewalk while backing into Park St. With the invent of 53' trailers, this rule became almost impossible to obey. To make matters worse, in the winter time, the sidewalk plows would put the snow exactly where it will cause the most problems, just off the side walk into the only space we legally had to maneuver. thus causing numerous traffic delays. I personally have held up the entire fire department, with sirens howling, with my truck stuck in the small snow bank just off the curb on the street. With a 53' trailer blocking Park St. I think I may have led to an early retirement of a shipping manager on the loading dock. Again I was stuck in the little snow bank on the street caused by the sidewalk plow, the manager was standing in the open door of the dock I was aiming for. He was screaming at me to hurry up, and I was hopelessly stuck, so I just casually shut the truck off and threw him the keys and told him to do it himself. I went for coffee. Park St was blocked for awhile but I got the guy to stop yelling at me. Next time I'll tell you about the time the city ran out of salt during a snow storm, you haven't lived until you've seen a car slide backwards down Birch St. from Knox St. down past the Police station right out onto Lisbon St. The buildings on Lisbon stopped him.....

mgr's picture
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Yet you survived without your

Yet you survived without your afternoon stroll.

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