Ice melt is scarce in Massachusetts this winter, "This season has been crazy"
Following a weekend storm in Massachusetts, many sidewalks, driveways and parking lots are covered by ice. Complicating matters is a lack of ice melt at stores throughout the area.
Ice was an issue statewide Monday. A parking lot in Allston looked like a rundown skating rink, thick with ice and chunky snow. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of reports of icy streets and sidewalks on Boston's 311 system.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation said staff worked to plow and de-ice properties with a focus on high traffic areas. Crews will be back out at the Allston lot Tuesday morning.
Ice melt shortage
And, to make matters worse, ice melt continues to be very hard to find.
A sign at the Pembroke Rocky's Ace Hardware warned customers that no ice melt would be available until Wednesday.
"This season has been crazy," employee David Rivard said. "The phone is ringing off the hook. Everybody has the same question. I kind of want to make a recording [saying], 'No, we don't have any ice melt.' But that's OK."
Stores throughout Massachusetts have also struggled to keep ice melt in stock.
"We've been having mild winters lately, and not an awful lot of need for the ice melt, but what's been available hasn't been much more than rock salt, which is kind of damaging to your surfaces. The best product out there is calcium chloride and it's hardly available at all," Ricard added.
Massachusetts ice
Just as Andrea Gorman of Pembroke came outside to show WBZ-TV her slippery, icy driveway – she slipped and fell for the third time in four days.
"And that's the problem," she said following the fall.
Gorman showed her bruised knee from a Friday fall. The slips happen in her driveway and front yard – which are both now a sheet of thick ice.
"At this point it's a skating rink and it's dangerous," she said. "I can't even come out of my house."
Gorman has lived on busy Route 36 for fifteen years. She walks through the snow when possible to avoid falling.
Gorman said a project to add sidewalks to the street left her home below street level, when it used to be at eye level with the road. The new condition created a pool and then skating rink in front of her home any time there is a storm.
"It scares me to leave the house or have you come to my house because what if you fall?" she said. "Or Amazon, you know, someone falls, gets hurt and now I'm getting sued."
Pembroke sidewalk project
Gorman said the project removed a storm drain that used to catch some of the runoff, and when she asked for help, she felt as though town crews "passed the buck" to a different department.
When WBZ reached out to the town of Pembroke, the town manager said it was a MassDOT project and he could not comment further. A MassDOT spokesperson said, "MassDOT is aware of drainage and driveway issues within the project limits. MassDOT will coordinate with the Town of Pembroke to mitigate these issues as weather allows, as this is a municipally owned roadway."
Following WBZ's contact, Gorman said a MassDOT employee called her and plans to meet her Tuesday to discuss options to deal with the draining issue.
How to prevent injuries on ice
WBZ asked orthopedic physician assistant Jason Rand of Boston Bone & Joint Institute for ways people can protect themselves from slip and fall incidents.
"It's important for [people] to know that the coefficient of friction with ice is near zero, so it is extremely slippery, and I encourage all my patients to wear proper footwear, such as cleats, if they're going through the woods on an icy terrain," he said. "I encourage them to go slow with walking, and to make a conscious effort with every step that they take … pay more attention to walking than you normally do. You don't want to carry four grocery bags. Narrow it to two so you could pay attention to where you're walking, and make sure to clear your path and clear the snow so that your neighbors can walk through without the slip and fall."
Who is responsible for clearing sidewalks?
In Boston, fighting against the ice takes some muscle. Casey Ryan and his girlfriend had to dig his car out of an icy pile of snow along.
"I had to skip work today because I couldn't get my car out of the ice," Ryan said. "I didn't think it would be this icy. The cold is like whatever, but the fact that is snowed then it rained then I didn't get it out and that set me back."
Boston officials say it is a property owners' responsibility to clear snow, sleet, or ice from their sidewalks. If you don't, the city could fine you.
For rules on clearing snow and ice, visit the City of Boston website.
