Two-tier society

Each time I see cycleways & paths still treacherous hours after the roads have been cleared, I recall this 99% Invisible episode.

"In Sweden, the council reversed its approach and plowed side-roads & paths first. It had a huge impact, reducing number of people admitted to emergency centres, particularly women. It had an economic impact from lower healthcare costs. Driving through a few inches was less dangerous than walking through snow, particularly if pushing a pram."

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/invisible-women/

@CiaraNi we need a two tyre society

@ownohmanny Ha yes. Nice!

@CiaraNi I was just thinking this today when a road in my small village had been cleared by piling 20 cm snow onto the pavement.

@CiaraNi

My motto for my city is "Fort Worth, the town that sidewalks forgot." At least there was this attempt at North Tarrant and Riverside.

@CiaraNi I love the stories that 99% Invisible finds! I haven’t listened to this one so thank you for sharing!

@Enema_Cowboy @CiaraNi It's taken my city, Round Rock, TX, a while to get with the idea that we should have sidewalks. It was dismaying to see new developments without sidewalks, but that seems to be a thing of the past.

I often think of the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" when I encounter a sidewalk that just, well, ends!

@CiaraNi that chapter of the book is what I think about every time this happens, as well. Today was a rare occasion of me taking the bus, and I had to traverse one of the dumbest results of the pedestrian areas not being prioritized: the forever icebergs that form when they just throw sand and gravel on the problem, rather than just scrape the snow right away. I refuse to believe that's even resource saving over a winter season, as they have to come back and throw more gravel on it regularly.

@CiaraNi Car-centric thinking. It's dumb and annoying.

@holsta Yes! Good point. This bothers me too. It feels so dismissive and rude, even — literally shovelling a problem away from drivers in their metal shields and onto exposed, unprotected cyclists and pedestrians. This photo is from a previous snowfall, but the same problem is everywhere in Aarhus too today. I saw people with mobility aids struggling to clamber over slippery mounds of cleared road snow that block the kerb cuts at pedestrians crossings.

@monstreline Me too. It's a brilliant podcast. Always fascinating stories, so well told.

@eivind The 'forever icebergs' — that's a great phrase for them. Takk, den låner jeg. Yes, great point. This a self-defeating problem.

@RandamuMaki It is. It's a resilient problem. We are lucky that our city is not generally car-centric, with bikes and pedestrians often given right-of-way over cars and with people-centred infrastructure. But for some reason, the exception is during snow. It can takes days before the paths are cleared, even in the busy city centre.

@Enema_Cowboy Oh my. I thought at first that this was a poorly designed path that took a weird winding route with an unseen bit around a bend. Then I read your Alt Text (thanks) and understood it is two unconnected 'paths' that just ... stop. A 'stroad' - what a word, what a concept! Thanks for sharing this.

@davemq @Enema_Cowboy Am glad to hear that the phenomenon of residential areas being built without paths seems to be dying out. I hope those peculiar paths that just 'stop' get replaced in the future by proper integrated pedestrian infrastructure.

@CiaraNi You do mean 3 tier don’t you? Look at the path for walkers.

@savera Two-tier. Snow cleared for motor vehicles. Snow not cleared for cyclists and pedestrians, i.e. everyone else.

@CiaraNi @Enema_Cowboy The real punchline is that it is, despite discontinuity, in fact an improvement vs. many non-pathed roads in the area. The mayor for many years was a cyclist and did push for bike paths and infrastructure such that it’s … better than it would have been otherwise … certainly better than you’d expect given other policy decisions by the same administrations, but still leaves a lot to be desired.

@CiaraNi and now it’s becoming three-tier. Council treats the roads then the cycle paths. But pedestrians are still left to take their chances.

Sweden starts with the pavements.