Be a great neighbor! Everyone enjoys safe, clear sidewalks – and it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep the sidewalks adjacent to their home or business clear and accessible. Shovel all sidewalks, wheelchair ramps, and bus stops around your home as soon as it’s practical and safe. Businesses have 4 hours after the snow stops to shovel, and residents have 24 hours. (RTD only shovels bus stops that have a shelter. If it’s just a sign with no shelter, the resident/business is responsible for this sidewalk.)
Show kindness and offer to help your neighbors if they aren’t able to shovel! Neighbors helping neighbors is one of the things that makes Denver great. You can volunteer to be an official “snow angel” at denvergov.org/snowangels or just do a #NeighborCheck. There are all sorts of reasons why people may need assistance, or they may just not know what the city’s rules are for keeping sidewalks clear. A simple conversation with a neighbor or just lending that helping hand will almost always resolve a snowy sidewalk faster than the city can, and it will preserve city resources for the rest of Denver’s 3,000 miles of sidewalks.
Tips:
- Use the shovel to push the snow; don’t lift it.
- Shovel early! When snow isn’t shoveled, it gets packed down and becomes ice. Shoveling all the way to the pavement will also prevent ice from forming.
- Shovel into your yard, so the snow plow doesn’t push it back onto your sidewalk.
- Shovel away from roadways and bike lanes, so plows don’t push the snow back onto your sidewalks.
- Salt can be damaging when it runs off into your lawn or the storm sewer with the snowmelt. Look for ecofriendly and pet-safe deicers.
- Be proactive and come up with a plan for addressing sidewalks now, before it’s snowing.