'Please Shovel The Sidewalk,' Hinsdale Trustee Pleads

Trustee Laura LaPlaca asked during Tuesday night's Village of Hinsdale Board of Trustees meeting that all residents to make sure the sidewalk in front of their property is shoveled.

"If anyone’s a walker, it’s really a problem," she said two nights after Sunday's big snowstorm. "You walk along and then you hit somebody who hasn’t shoveled their sidewalk and there’s 18 inches of snow."

LaPlaca said clearing the sidewalk is not something the village takes care of, and companies that plow driveways typically take care of sidewalks for a small fee. 

With kids back in school Wednesday, the trustee said, it's even more important to make sure sidewalks are clear. 

"The streets are very slippery so please, please shovel the sidewalk," LaPlaca said. "It’s a pedestrian community and it’s really important that people do that."

We asked our Facebook fans if folks not shoveling the sidewalk is indeed an issue around town, and here are the responses we received: 

• Scott Collis: Highly variable Joe. I am so lucky that between myself and a couple of other guys on my block out sidewalks get shoveled/blown many times.. There are some areas where people just do not seem to care!
• Claudia Harootunian Karagianis: Yes--while walking my dogs, slipped on the sidewalk in front of a neighbor's house, cracked my head very badly [last March]. ... I still have residual pain in the back of my head. I was more upset that they didn't care enough to shovel the walk and still do not shovel it. The larger concern is if an elderly person was to fall like that, the results could be much worse.
• Linda Dirks Twomey: You can ask people to shovel as a courtesy, but in this lawsuit happy world we live in, you better have adequate homeowners insurance, not even sure that covers what amounts to negligence if you don't clear sidewalks.
  

Are non-shoveled sidewalks indeed a problem in Hinsdale and Clarendon Hills? Tell us in the comments!