To the Editor:
I am responding to Robyn Gray’s letter in the Dec. 15 edition of The Enterprise [“Unplowed sidewalks are a health and safety issue”].

I moved to Bethlehem in 2017 as part of downsizing during retirement. One of the top needs in location was walkability. We settled on Bethlehem because there are sidewalks everywhere here.

Guilderland’s plan for sidewalks is to have property owners put them in when they apply for building permits or via grants.

Before we moved, when I asked about Guilderland’s “plan,” two upcoming projects were cited: the sidewalk to Lynnwood Elementary on Old State Road and the sidewalk on Route 20, from SEFCU to the library.

That was the extent of the plan. The latter project was just completed. At that rate, Guilderland will approach walkability sometime in the next century.

More to the point of Ms. Gray’s letter, Guilderland cannot maintain the very limited sidewalks it has.

In Bethlehem, after the most recent storm ending late Friday night, the extensive network of sidewalks was plowed by 9 a.m. on Saturday and were salted the next day.

Often a pretreatment of brine solution is put down on them in anticipation of a storm just like the roads receive. And the highway department has a plan for installation and/or repair of a set amount of sidewalks in its annual budget.

In closing, if Guilderland wants to be a walkable community, it can be done. And the sidewalks can be maintained.

And, while I don’t have exact figures, I don’t believe Bethlehem taxes are all that different from Guilderland. I am one former  Guilderland resident who found walkability elsewhere.

And I take advantage of that, walking six miles a day, year-round.

Jim Pickett 

Glenmont