WORCESTER, Mass. — Thursday morning’s mix of ice and snow made for a slippery mess across the Worcester area, and with cold temps lingering, some city sidewalks remain too dangerous to navigate. 

Worcester property owners are supposed to clear sidewalks in front of their building within 10 hours of a storm, but when they're dealing with a sheet of ice instead of a blanket of snow, Department of Public Works & Parks Commissioner Jay Fink said the task becomes a bit more tedious. 

“There’s not a lot to shovel," Fink said. "We have enough of a hard time scraping off our cars before we leave in the morning, now everyone’s trying to scrape the ice off a sidewalk. It makes it very difficult.”

Pedestrians told Spectrum News 1 it can be difficult to pass through icy sidewalks. Richard Smith gets around with the help of a walker, sweeping storefronts and washing windows throughout the city.

“Instead of just my two legs, it’s a couple wheels too," Smith said. 

Fink said if you don’t have time to clear the ice, you should at least take advantage of the city’s free stockpile of sand at 29 Albany Street. This way, you can lessen the risk of someone getting hurt. 

He also encourages people to take action if they notice someone repeatedly failing to clear the way. 

“The easiest thing to do is call 311 and report it," Fink said. "We have the assistance of the police department to go and review, inspect those properties. If we find there’s an enforcement order that’s needed, that enforcement order is basically a fine of 75 dollars a day if the sidewalk is not cleared.”

Three months ago, the Worcester School Committee asked the city to look into a municipal sidewalk clearing program, and while it’s still under consideration, Fink says the plan would present quite a challenge for his staff.

“This past storm, we started at roughly four o'clock Wednesday afternoon, and I’ve still got crews out there now, so that’s just to clear those roadways," Fink said. "If I’m going to add on top of that a sidewalk component of it, I clearly don’t have the in-house capability of doing something like that.”

He mentioned there's a possibility of outside contractors helping with the sidewalks, but in the meantime, pedestrians like Smith will keep counting on property owners to do their part.

“Some people don’t, most people do," Smith said. "There’s a few that don’t, but I get up and down this hill every night and every morning.”