Bikehead -

My sister lives right around the area where 28th St. runs into Cascade. She said they laugh because the pathways are always cleared long before the streets are. Cascade Twp clears the paths and Kent County does the roads. According to her, the paths are kept very clear. They just added some more pathways last year.

Now I'm jealous, but it would be a really long commute to where I work from GR.

I'm not sure what the situation is in the Ada/Cascade Twp area, but for what it's worth, most municpalities in Michigan are having serious budget issues. They've been cutting back on services, and in the case of Lansing they aren't plowing or salting as much. It's been very noticable this year. I've found a few times biking to work that the State had cleared the sidewalks around their buildings long before the city plows had touched the streets. I'm not a sidewalk riding type of gal, but I've done it a few times into work before 7am, simply because the streets were in such terrible shape (bonus, there's no one crazy enough to be walking on the sidewalks downtown that time of the morning).

So, in some ways, how the streets have been kept in the past is no indicator of how they'll be kept in the next couple of years. The State has cut back on funding for plowing and salting of state highways, the cities are cutting back on essential services. The State is also expeciting a serious budget shortfall in this fiscal year and worse next year, so it is possible that the State may cut the funds it gives to municipalities, making the situation even worse.

Now might be a good time to take up skiing. I've thought a few times this year that it was probably the most practical way to get to work (since I don't have studded tires on either bike). If it snows as much for the rest of the year as it has so far, I might just start doing that.

And welcome to Michigan!!