RACINE — Days after the last snowfall in Racine, some residential streets remain covered with ice and packed snow, creating safety concerns for residents navigating their neighborhoods.
Watch: Racine resident expresses concern about icy, snow-packed streets
Vidal Villalba said the conditions on his street pose daily challenges for his family.
"Slipping and sliding a bit just getting out of our cars," Villalba said.
Ice coats the ground while blocks of solid snow litter the sides of roads throughout his neighborhood, near the Racine zoo.
Villalba said the conditions create safety hazards.
"I have two kids that I have to carry in the house. One of them is in a car seat, so it's an infant, and I'm not gonna slip and fall, and then, now God forbid, I drop a car seat, and now he's in the middle of the road," Villalba said.
Villalba said recent road conditions also caused him to damage his vehicle.
"I was sliding, and I hit a chunk of ice that they didn't even plow to the curb the right way," Villalba said.
Villalba reached out to TMJ4 News with his concerns, hoping to prompt action from the city. He said he remembered previous coverage of similar issues earlier this month.
"So here we are again," Villalba said.
Villalba contacted the city through Facebook, as well as messaging the city directly about the ice on his street. He did not receive a response.
When TMJ4 asked about ongoing issues related to ice and snow on some residential roads, City of Racine Communications Director Leslie Flynn noted the frequency of recent snow events and the prolonged cold.
"Public Works follows a documented procedure that has been largely unchanged for more than 40 years, and service levels have not been reduced," she said.
She also explained the city's process for salting residential streets.
"The City does not salt or plow residential streets down to bare pavement. On local streets, only hills, curves, and intersections are salted for safety, while arterial streets, due to higher traffic volumes, are prioritized for plowing and salting to bare pavement," she said in an email.
Flynn said as temperatures rise in the coming days, some residential streets will receive another round of salting. This will be a targeted response to areas with the most severe icing.
Residents can contact the City of Racine Customer Service Center at 262-636-9171 to have their concerns documented or raise issues with elected officials during the public comment portion of Common Council meetings.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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