CHICOPEE, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - Western Mass parents are raising concerns on social media regarding recent snow removal, or rather, a lack thereof. Western Mass News is Getting Answers in Chicopee after several parents posted that they plan to keep their student’s home until the sidewalks are safe to take to school.

Some Chicopee parents keeping their kids home from school an extra day today all because of sidewalks just like this one. If more comes this weekend, I don’t know where we’re going to put it, even in our houses.

“If more comes this weekend, I don’t know where we’re going to put it, even in our houses,” Ellen Sypek of Chicopee spent her morning out walking her dog with her neighbor. while she doesn’t have any kids currently in the school system, she said that she understands why it could have been a struggle for students to walk to and from school.

Even though Sypek has had the sidewalks in front of her house cleared, it’s an issue that keeps returning with the plows, “Hopefully when the plows go down the streets, they go down slow. So, they aren’t covering the sidewalk after we’ve shoveled it. That’s the tough part. That’s the tough part.”

Sypek commends the work that all the crews have put in thus far, but it has been several days since the snowstorm, and cleanup is still an issue in the city.

We took resident concerns to Chicopee Mayor John Vieau, who explained that while student safety should always come first, it’s also on the parents to notify the city of any concerns,” I understand where they’re coming from. But if there is a route that is heading towards a school that we can please call our office, let us know.

Mayor Vieau said that a lot of the snow removal from the sidewalks is happening at night, where crews will relocate that snow to a part of the city that won’t impact travel.

In the meantime, the mayor said that homeowners and businesses with sidewalks need to be doing their part as well, “it’s 24 hours after the storm. You have to clean your sidewalks so that the pedestrians can have safe places to walk.”

The city also plans on enforcing this mandate, so clear a path, or pay the price.

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