Parents walking with strollers in Boston struggle to navigate snowy sidewalks, "a complete traffic jam"
For people on foot in Boston, the struggle is real after the major snowstorm earlier this week. Sidewalk space remains thin, and some are still snow covered. It has left Bostonians to navigate a city that is already at times hard to navigate on a sunny day.
"Sadly, we are on the roads with a stroller and kids," said Charlestown resident Jesca Brown. "We are walking to and from play dates, programs. We're stuck."
Crosswalks blocked by snow
With crosswalks blocked by snow berms, the only way off the sidewalk can be an opening as thin as a parking lot stripe. WBZ witnessed numerous families struggle to get their children through.
"Oh, we backtrack if there is not enough room. We backtrack, and we find another out. It's a long walk," said Brown.
Pick-up time at the Good Shepherd School in Charlestown became a free-for-all on Wednesday with parents left to push kids in strollers in the streets. When numerous children were let out of school, it created a single file line down the sidewalk that blocked anyone else from passing.
"The sidewalk is only about one stroller wide, and then all of the kids are leaving preschool at the same time. All trying to get into strollers at the same time, and it was just a complete traffic jam," said Charlestown resident Katie Pedrick, who struggled to push her daughter Daisy home in their stroller.
"It's about a 15-minute walk, probably longer because of the snow, and the fact I am going to be carrying the stroller half of the way," Pedrick said. "Trying to get a 3-year-old to walk herself 20 minutes in 20 degrees while carrying a stroller is a lot."
Trash crews, delivery drivers impacted
Trash pickup crews don't have it much easier. The snow piles created barriers between buckets and the truck. Delivery workers in Charlestown and the North End feel it too. It's an area that's hard to park normally.
"It's definitely not fun out here, especially with the snowbank out here like this. You can't see anything or get anywhere," said appliance delivery worker Dan Chausse.
Even dogwalkers in the North End are left to decide whether it's safer to walk their pups on the sidewalk or to take them to the streets. And to think, more snow could be in store for this weekend.
"It's been crazy for like a couple of days now trying to park, trying to like survive in the snow," said North End resident Fabricio Fabbri.