Did You Know There Are Heated Sidewalks in Central New York

Did you know there are heated sidewalks in Central New York? Me either. And it seems there are several.

Heated sidewalks can be found in front of Crouse Hospital in Syracuse and the Upstate parking garage.

There's also warmth coming from the street in front of the Onondaga Savings Bank on Salina Street. It's said to have been installed in the late 50s. Farther down Salina Street, Centro has heated bus platforms and sidewalks as well.

Syracuse University added heated sidewalks during the construction project in 2016, according to Syracuse.com. More were added a few years ago to help increase campus safety.

Heated Streets

There are a few towns that have installed a system to pump heat below streets. One in New Hampshire and another in Michigan. Not only does it save thousands of dollars in snow removal it also cuts down on salt damage to roads, bridges, and cars.

Road salt also causes problems in lakes and rivers. The run-off creates chloride contamination. Although it doesn't harm people, it can kill fish, plants, and organisms.

With the amount of snow we see every Winter and bone-numbing temperatures, you'd actually think there'd be more heated streets and sidewalks in Central and Upstate New York.

I think I may need to ditch the shovel and have one installed in my driveway. Is that a thing?