Winter prison

Normally I have always liked the winter season. I'm a person who enjoys all four seasons. I may not ski or ice skate during wintertime, but I've never been particularly bothered by the cold or even snow, as long as it's possible to get out and walk, and as long as the temperatures hover around freezing. Neither have been the case this year. 

I have disliked every minute of winter this year, especially during January and February. In December we are distracted by Christmas, thankfully. I am neither handicapped nor am I elderly. I can normally get around with no problems, and a little bit of snow on the sidewalks does not usually bother me. It’s when the sidewalks are sheets of ice, no matter where you turn, that my dislike turns to anathema. I've written about the build-up of ice and snow in Oslo during wintertime in previous posts during the past decade: A New Yorker in Oslo: Slipping and sliding away (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com); A New Yorker in Oslo: The sidewalks of Oslo in winter (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com); A New Yorker in Oslo: Clear bike lanes and icy sidewalks in Oslo (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com); A New Yorker in Oslo: Why isn’t it possible to shovel sidewalks in this city during the winter? (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com).       

The sad thing is that the situation hasn't changed much in the past ten years. Sidewalks are sheets of ice, some of the roads likewise. We're told to buy shoes/boots with spikes in order to walk on the icy sidewalks, which I find infuriating. These shoes are expensive and are often sold-out. They are also annoying to wear, as sometimes the spikes get stuck in the ice (meaning your foot gets stuck). I and many others have chosen to walk in the (for the most part, ploughed) streets rather than use the sidewalks. The emergency rooms are filled with people, young and old, who have broken bones from falling on the ice. Actually, I'm guessing it's mostly young and middle-aged people who have broken bones, because elderly and handicapped people are just plain trapped in their homes during wintertime. They don’t get out, and how they stand it, I don't know. I find it appalling that more people don't react, don't get angry, and don’t criticize the city government for failing to do the job they should be doing. You can find all these kinds of criticisms on social media post, where people vent and rant and rave, but the regular media--newspapers and tv--just seem to ignore the problem. We're constantly told that this is a winter country and that we should be used to snow and ice. Yes, that is true. And so what? If this is a winter country, that means that Oslo should know how to get rid of snow and ice on sidewalks. It doesn’t mean that the city has a free pass to ignore shoveling, salting, and setting out gravel. There is so much passing the buck in this city. The city government has a budget; that much I understand. But this is not your proverbial small town; this is a big city. People of all ages and people with special needs, need to get out to shop, go to doctors’ appointments, go to work, etc. Someone has to take responsibility. Yes, snow removal, salting and spreading gravel cost money. Perhaps more than what was budgeted. So what? Spend it. But they can’t, because they’ve already used up much of the budget to keep the bicycle lanes clear, so that the very few younger people who bike all winter long can do so without problems. God forbid they should slip and injure themselves. This is typical of the Green Party thinking that permeates this city. The main focus is on eliminating all dangerous emissions from fossil-fuel vehicles. That means riding bicycles year-round. Additionally, they've become obsessed with electric everything--cars, buses, scooters, etc, all of which function properly in the spring and summer months. But not during the winter months. Come wintertime, the bitter cold destroys the proper functioning of the batteries. So buses come to a halt. Trams and trains, which are electrified, have always had problems. Frankly, I used to care about climate change, but it’s no longer a main priority. I just care about having a functioning city during the wintertime, a city where people of all ages and with special needs can get out and walk, shop, take public transportation that actually functions, and use their cars if necessary. In other words, escape their winter prisons that have been foisted upon them by this city. 

The sidewalks of Oslo in winter

I wonder each year, once winter comes, how it is possible that the city of Oslo appears not to care too much about its inhabitants slipping and sliding on the ice that coats most of the sidewalks. I've written about this before, but this year the problem seems even more pronounced. We have had a few snowfalls followed by sub-freezing temperatures, and that's usually fine. The problem arises when the snow melts over a period of a few days of above-freezing temperatures. The snow turns to slush, and then to ice once the temperatures drop again. Apartment and house owners do throw down some gravel, but it's not enough. The sidewalks and even the side roads are slippery as hell. I think the lack of consideration for others is appalling. 

Our co-op maintenance fees are increasing considerably as of January. My question is what are we getting for this increase. Will the board approve more gravel and salt for the sidewalks? Will they hire a person or firm to shovel snow on a continual basis? Will they care about the elderly that live here? Do they care about them at present? It doesn't seem like it. They do hire a plow to clear the road in the inner courtyard so that emergency vehicles can navigate them. But if you want to leave your apartment to walk the short distance to the garbage house, you risk slipping and falling and breaking a bone or two. It's rather pathetic, especially as we approach 2023. Interestingly, the few co-op apartment dwellers who have complained on our co-op's Facebook page are young people, not elderly. The latter have probably given up in frustration; they know that they are not and never will be a priority in this city.

The city cares mostly about keeping the bicycle lanes free of snow; they plow them and scatter salt so that the snow melts and stays melted. All this for the miniscule percentage of city dwellers that actually bikes during the winter. The city should be plowing and salting the sidewalks as well. But of course we live in a city that prioritizes bicyclists, not pedestrians. There are far more of the latter, so it makes no sense. But this is the philosophy that the Green Party politicians are obsessed with; everyone should bike, year-round. It doesn't matter that it's bitter cold; you should just suck it up. If you need studded tires for your bicycle, their purchase is subsidized by the city (Støtte til sykkelpiggdekk (klimatilskudd.no). Like so many others, I'm weary of the Green Party pushing their agenda down our throats. Biking in the wintertime is a high-risk sport. I've been witness to near-fatal accidents with bicyclists in wintertime; one woman actually fell off her bike (hit a slippery patch) and nearly ended up under the wheels of a city bus that was right on her tail. A near miss; she was just lucky. 

It's truly disappointing to realize that a city does not care very much about its inhabitants. It's not as though winter is a short season here in Norway. Even though Oslo does have mild winters at times, when it snows, the problem of snow and ice removal arises. The city doesn't seem to care too much that snow and ice removal from sidewalks is a problem. I guess they think it's ok that there are often record numbers of people who end up in the emergency room with broken bones. And those people are mostly children, young people and middle-aged folks. Elderly people don't dare to leave their homes very often. If they did the numbers would be even higher. I have to say that I just don't get it. 

Clear bike lanes and icy sidewalks in Oslo

Here's a suggestion to those co-op apartment complex owners and municipality leaders who don't clear snow and ice from the sidewalks in Oslo. Buy one of these--the Cub Cadet 3X 26 in. 357cc 3-Stage Electric Start Gas Snow Blower with Steel Chute, Power Steering and Heated Grips--see the link:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cub-Cadet-3X-26-in-357cc-3-Stage-Electric-Start-Gas-Snow-Blower-with-Steel-Chute-Power-Steering-and-Heated-Grips-3X-26/207111661

Why is it 3-stage? It clears snow, ice and slush--perfect for sidewalks. Cost? About 1000 USD. It would probably cost 50% more in Norway, but it would be worth checking out. A small investment that would help others and prevent people from not being able to work due to broken bones. In other words, a worthwhile investment.

We've often heard here that there is no bad weather, only bad attire. When you first hear this, it makes some sense. If it's bitter cold, you wear a heavy jacket with a hood to protect yourself. You wear gloves or maybe a hat. You wear boots when it snows. And so on. This is logical. You'd be foolish to be outdoors in freezing temperatures with a light jacket and no gloves or hat. But this statement is also extended to the icy/snowy sidewalk situation--you can wear plastic Scandinavian crampons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavian_crampon) over your boots to help you walk on the icy sidewalks. I have a pair that I stretch on over my boots. They do work, but they take some getting used to. I wouldn't want to walk long distances with them. I don't think they're the solution to the problem. Any way you look at it, clearing the sidewalks makes the most logical sense.

I'm including some photos of icy/snowy sidewalks and platforms that I took today on my way to and from one of the city hospitals. I walked about four miles today without falling and breaking any bones. But sometimes I feel like I'm eighty years old, inching my way along the sheet of ice that was once a sidewalk, gauging carefully where I can and cannot go. It's no fun.

Tube station platform covered in ice

Ramp covered in ice leading up to tube station

Sidewalk leading up to the main buildings of a city hospital 

sidewalk in Trondheimsveien that has been cleared

sidewalk further south in Trondheimsveien that is just a sheet of ice

even further south in Trondheimsveien showing the division between the sidewalk for pedestrians on the left--a sheet of ice, and the bike lane for cyclists on the right--nicely cleared

Ring 2 showing a clear bike lane and an icy sidewalk

Why isn’t it possible to shovel sidewalks in this city during the winter?

I have been down this road before, and written about this before. My pet peeve and one of the reasons I hate winter in this city. Normally I don’t mind winter and snow; I like the seasons and would probably miss winter if I moved to a warmer climate where there was no winter. But still I have to ask, why can’t this city take responsibility for clearing the sidewalks of snow during a snowy winter like this one? It’s not like we have this amount of snow all the time. So what’s the problem?

The municipality of Oslo has the responsibility for clearing the main roads (think highways and access roads to highways), and they do a good job of it. But it’s never clear whose responsibility it is to clear the sidewalks, and I see that this gets discussed ad nauseam each winter when there is a lot of snow, like this one. Some sidewalks are cleared, others are not. The reasons for this are never explained. I would think that the owners of co-op apartment complexes, of which there are a myriad of in this city, could arrange for snow removal, and by that, I mean continual snow removal. It doesn’t help to remove it once, throw down some gravel, and that’s the end of it. What happens is that it snows heavily with accumulation, some sidewalk snow gets removed but not all, then the temperatures get warmer and much of the snow turns to slush (at which point I would remove it but that doesn’t happen here), and then it gets colder and the slush turns to uneven ice that is difficult to walk on, even with gravel spread here and there. Old people don’t stand a chance in terms of getting out to shop or to run other errands. There has been a record number of broken arms and legs this year from all of the falls resulting from slipping on the ice, and it’s not just older people who dominate the statistics, it’s younger people as well. So that should tell you something. No one seems to care about what this costs society in terms of lost work days; if you are laid up with a broken leg or cannot use your good arm at work, then you are out on sick leave. To me, it would be more cost-effective to clear the sidewalks, and to make and enforce laws stating clearly who has the responsibility to do so. Fines should be heavy for all those who do not follow the law.

But the ridiculousness does not end here. The Green party in this country has been pushing for bike lanes on all the main roads, and they have gotten their way in this city. While I am a bicyclist and have been since I was a child, I resent the hard-handed approach to the way biking is forced down our throats now. Everyone should bike, year-round, according to the Green party. And here’s the kicker. Like the main roads, the bike lanes are also cleared of snow by the municipality. It’s a priority that they are cleared, while the sidewalks that parallel them are packed with snow and ice. Go figure. Walking is every bit as healthy for you as biking is. But clearing the sidewalks is not a priority, not even the sidewalks that lead to large city hospitals or in front of the entrances to different buildings at the city hospitals. Never mind the patients who are brought in by ambulance; what about the patient's family members who have to navigate these sidewalks on their way to visit? Or wouldn't you think that hospitals, of all places, would respect their employees enough to shovel the sidewalks? Snow removal is also null at the tube stations, where ice accumulates at the edge of the platforms, making it tricky business to board the trains. Ditto for the tram stations. I keep waiting for the news to announce that someone has slipped off the platforms in front of or under the trains. It amazes me that this nonsense about who has responsibility for what goes on year after year, and that nothing gets done about it.

So what do I see since the bike lanes are cleared and not the sidewalks? Pedestrians are walking in the bike lanes, a clear hazard to both pedestrians and bicyclists. Bicyclists are skidding on patches of ice here and there where the bike lanes are a bit icy, despite the bikes being outfitted with studded tires. I watched a female bicyclist last week skid in the bike lane, fall off her bike, and land smack in the middle of the main road. If there had been a bus or car driving on the main road at that time, she would have been immediately run over and crushed. I would have had zero chance to help her. This is idiotic to me. It can be difficult enough to drive a car on the main roads during winter-time; you can always run into a patch of ice or snow that suddenly makes driving difficult. Studded tires for cars are now discouraged (you must pay a fee to the municipality each time you drive a car with studded tires) due to the pollution they cause--dust from churning up the asphalt in addition to the fact that they destroy the asphalt roads. But studded tires for bikes are encouraged. Don't they churn up the asphalt as well? Go figure. I don’t see the point of pushing and prioritizing winter biking, but this is my opinion. I respect that others would want to do it, but as far as I’m concerned, they risk their lives. My major point with this post is that it would be so great to be able to walk outdoors during the winter in a big city without risking falling and breaking an arm, leg or hip. I wonder why prioritizing clearing the sidewalks is too much to ask.

Slipping and sliding away

Each year in Oslo, come winter, the same problems crop up. There are snowstorms, sometimes there is a fair amount of accumulation, and then the snow plows come out to clean the streets and to spread salt to keep the streets free of ice and snow. The end result is that cars and buses usually have no problem getting around the city streets during the winter. It’s a seldom occurrence that the streets are so icy or snowy that cars and buses have problems maneuvering their way along them. Not so with the sidewalks. Sidewalks are another matter; it’s as though sidewalks in Oslo belong to another universe. And in that universe, chaos and uncertainty reign. No one knows for sure which sidewalks will be cleared and which won’t. The street Ullevålsveien, for example, has completely clear sidewalks, making it a simple matter to visit the different stores and cafes on that street, whereas most of the sidewalks in Grünerløkka (one of the areas of the city quite near where we live) are a disaster. They are in fact disasters waiting to happen, in the form of broken bones of some sort. They are so slippery and dangerous to walk on that most people choose to walk in the streets instead. That way there is no risk of falling. Ditto for the area where we live; icy sidewalks with some gravel thrown down to help you get a grip, but it doesn’t help if they haven’t been shoveled first. I have begun to walk in the streets myself, after having fallen once already. Luckily I did not end up with any broken bones or sprained wrists. In the morning on the way to the bus stop near where we live, I join the many others who are walking in the streets rather than on the sidewalks. It strikes me as rather silly to see all these people in the streets, but who am I to judge? We all just want to be safe and to get where we’re going on time. Walking on the icy sidewalks makes me feel as though I’m eighty years old; having to walk slowly, inch by inch, looking ahead to determine whether the patch of white ground ahead of you is ice or not, and then following the path of no ice until it becomes ice again. And so on. I feel sorry for elderly people in this city; I wonder if many of them even dare to venture out, even if they are in general good health. One fall, and they’re out of commission for quite a while.

The randomness of sidewalk shoveling strikes me as rather absurd in a country where winter can extend from mid-October until early April. The newspapers have written about it the problem, droves of people complain about it, but every year, nothing changes. I don’t get it. The last newspaper article I read about this problem discussed whose responsibility it was to shovel the sidewalks; in some cases it’s the city’s responsibility, in other cases, the owners of the buildings. I can personally attest to the fact that most apartment building owners seem to do little or nothing to keep the sidewalks in front of their buildings clear; perhaps they figure that these are city sidewalks so the city should take care of them. The city fines the owners for not clearing the sidewalks, and so it goes. In the meantime, people are slipping and sliding on their way to wherever they’re going.

Shop and restaurant owners in the downtown area of the city complain that they are losing business to the large shopping malls that ring the city. There may be multiple reasons for this, but one thing is clear to me. If shop or restaurant owners in the downtown area don’t care enough to get out and shovel a path to their doors, if they can’t clear snow from the sidewalks in front of their stores, don’t expect my business. I don’t want to hear your complaints that malls are taking all your business. I like to shop in the downtown area of Oslo, but I can tell you that the icy sidewalks discourage me from doing so during the winter. But again, this is a random affair. Some shop owners do shovel snow, others don’t. Why is that? Why do some shop owners care more about their customers than others? I think they all need to get on the same page—prioritize your customers. We potential customers don’t care whose responsibility it is to shovel the sidewalks, so stop arguing about it. Just get out there and do it, like the Nike commercial says.