It wasn't only the City of Madison that was bombarded with complaints over snow removal following the winter storms that blew through the region last week. The streets and sidewalks of UW-Madison were similarly glazed over with ice, and the students, staff of the university faced many of the same difficulties as did residents in the surrounding city.
"Campus is having a hard time dealing with all of the snow," wrote one UW employee about the situation last Thursday. "Paths aren't plowed, sidewalks aren't shoveled, and forget about biking."
Complaints about the snow and ice removal spurred the university to address the problem publicly "We in the UW-Madison Physical Plant take the removal of snow and ice very seriously," declared its director John Harrod in a statement issued last Friday. He went on to note the problems caused by the freezing rain on December 1 -- as did the city -- and reiterated the department's commitment to removing the mess. Harrod also detailed the amount of space requiring clearing on campus (including 50 miles of sidewalks and 12 miles of streets), assistance given by personnel from other departments, and the cuts in their staff in recent years.
A pair of UW freshmen highlighted the conditions on campus by creating a brief video showing a patch of sidewalk ice slip up pedestrian after pedestrian in the southeast section of the campus. Set to "Technologic" by Daft Punk and replete with plenty of gleeful giggling at the spills, this highlights video follows below.
"We hope that people take whatever measures are needed to minimize their own risk of falling. Some suggestions include wearing sensible rubber-soled shoes rather than leather-soled and commercially available traction-control devices," concluded the UW's Physical Plant director. "Thank you for your patience as we continue our efforts to clear the campus of snow and ice."
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