Minneapolis residents battle against – and penguin-walk across – icy surfaces

By DAVID SCHUMAN

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Grabbing the mail became a treacherous trip Wednesday morning. A glaze of ice coated Twin Cities stoops and sidewalks.

Hazardous winter weather drives business at North End Hardware in Minneapolis.

“For thin stuff like this, sand or salt is the way to go,” said North End’s John Guion.

He recommends an ice chopper that’s made in Ramsey.

“What I like about a heavy chopper like that is instead of slamming down on there, it’s doing the work because it’s so heavy. You just lift up and drop it,” he said.

But if you’re just waiting for the thaw, you better watch your step.

“You got to kind of walk like a penguin and shuffle along and not take any gigantic steps,” said Wayne Cassman of Minneapolis.

That penguin walk gets a little easier with traction rubbers that you can strap on over your boots.

“People who’ve grown up in this kind of situation know how to walk on ice, typically,” Guion said. “You have to modify your steps.”

In Minneapolis, sidewalks are the responsibility of property owners. The city’s still working on clearing snow from some parts of town. Joe Paumen is Minneapolis’ director of Transportation Maintenance and Repair.

“Being we’re almost to our yearly average already for snowfall in Minneapolis, snow storage is an issue. And so it is just a slower process pushing back some of those banks that are creeping into the street,” Paumen said.

But with a bit of winter warmup this weekend, Minnesotans can rejoice at the melting.

Minneapolis says they’re still putting out 60 pieces of snow-clearing equipment every day, and 40 at night.

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