Two-tier society
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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."
Invisible Women - 99% Invisible
Snow plowing patterns seem an unlikely subject of a gender study conducted in a small town in Sweden. After all, the town’s approach appeared logical and neutral enough on the surface: plow major roads first, particularly those leading into and out of town, followed by smaller local streets. It is the same sequence played out
99% Invisible (99percentinvisible.org)
@CiaraNi I love the stories that 99% Invisible finds! I haven’t listened to this one so thank you for sharing!
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My motto for my city is "Fort Worth, the town that sidewalks forgot." At least there was this attempt at North Tarrant and Riverside.
@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!
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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."
Invisible Women - 99% Invisible
Snow plowing patterns seem an unlikely subject of a gender study conducted in a small town in Sweden. After all, the town’s approach appeared logical and neutral enough on the surface: plow major roads first, particularly those leading into and out of town, followed by smaller local streets. It is the same sequence played out
99% Invisible (99percentinvisible.org)
@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.
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Two-tier society
@CiaraNi Car-centric thinking. It's dumb and annoying.
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@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.
@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.
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@CiaraNi I love the stories that 99% Invisible finds! I haven’t listened to this one so thank you for sharing!
@monstreline Me too. It's a brilliant podcast. Always fascinating stories, so well told.
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@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.
@eivind The 'forever icebergs' — that's a great phrase for them. Takk, den låner jeg. Yes, great point. This a self-defeating problem.
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@CiaraNi Car-centric thinking. It's dumb and annoying.
@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.
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My motto for my city is "Fort Worth, the town that sidewalks forgot." At least there was this attempt at North Tarrant and Riverside.
@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.
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@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!
@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.
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Two-tier society
@CiaraNi You do mean 3 tier don’t you? Look at the path for walkers.
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@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.
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@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.
@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.
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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."
Invisible Women - 99% Invisible
Snow plowing patterns seem an unlikely subject of a gender study conducted in a small town in Sweden. After all, the town’s approach appeared logical and neutral enough on the surface: plow major roads first, particularly those leading into and out of town, followed by smaller local streets. It is the same sequence played out
99% Invisible (99percentinvisible.org)
@CiaraNi another consequence of poorly-cleared sidewalks is that pedestrians sometimes walk in the street, which is even more dangerous. Here in #RochesterNY it seems to have become a habit that spills over into non-snowy seasons as well.
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Åh! From MY old Hood!
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Åh! From MY old Hood!@aj42 and yes, we live in car-centric society... We are so doomed
🫣
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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."
Invisible Women - 99% Invisible
Snow plowing patterns seem an unlikely subject of a gender study conducted in a small town in Sweden. After all, the town’s approach appeared logical and neutral enough on the surface: plow major roads first, particularly those leading into and out of town, followed by smaller local streets. It is the same sequence played out
99% Invisible (99percentinvisible.org)
@CiaraNi I live in a village in Vermont where we have a street plowing system and a sidewalk plowing system. Usually the sidewalks get plowed before the roads are fully (down to asphalt) plowed because kids need to get to school and cars can make it work with a little bit of snow on the ground. We don't have bike lanes per se, but we do have an active walk/Bike/Roll coalition which is actively raising these issues for which I am grateful.
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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."
Invisible Women - 99% Invisible
Snow plowing patterns seem an unlikely subject of a gender study conducted in a small town in Sweden. After all, the town’s approach appeared logical and neutral enough on the surface: plow major roads first, particularly those leading into and out of town, followed by smaller local streets. It is the same sequence played out
99% Invisible (99percentinvisible.org)
Thank you so much for sharing this!!
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@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.
@cwicseolfor @Enema_Cowboy Good that there was a mayor who rides a bike and that some efforts were made to improve the bike infrastructre.
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@peterbrown Yes, that's a common problem here too. First day or two: roads cleared. Then they get around to the bike paths. Last, if ever, the footpaths. Which are even more difficult to negotiate after they've cleared the roads and bike paths, with the shovelled-away snow blocking kerb cuts and spraying onto the footpaths themselves.
