Condition of streets is unacceptable

To the editor:

I was surprised to experience a lot of unnecessary difficulty after our recent winter weather event. It's been over a week since we experienced a mix of rain, sleet and snow and I find the overall condition of our city streets to be unacceptable. Especially the residential sections. My street involves two hills that intersect at a corner. Such terrain requires priority attention along with an application of sand and salt.

More than 48 hours after the weather cleared, my street had been plowed once by a tractor which is not equipped to spread the necessary sand/salt mix. After three phone calls to the city streets department and dislodging multiple stranded cars, I found myself at a local hardware store buying 400 pounds of tube sand to apply over the glazed ice. The receptionist at the streets department said, 'All I can do is to let them know.” This is unacceptable.

Residential streets around Erskine Elementary are not cleared curb to curb, causing a dangerous congestion of cars and unsafe conditions. Intersections used by children as crosswalks are covered with a mix of snow, slush and ice. This puts our children at risk. I watched a car slide through an intersection. Thankfully, no pedestrians were present at the time. I hope the city will 'hear my concerns with both eyes” and achieve the high standards we have come to enjoy over many winters. So far this year, the grade is not admirable.

Tim Palmer

Cedar Rapids