Combating Slippery Sidewalks

There is ice on the left portion of the sidewalk but the sprinkled dirt path makes traveling safer.   In the very, very far distance of the photograph there is a man shoveling dirt onto the walkway.  I have unofficially appointed him the patron saint of winter streets.   

The sidewalks were icy last week.  It rarely snows in Strasbourg so this is not normally a problem.  When it does snow, things can get slippery.

From where I am from in the United States, there is a law stating that snow and ice need to be removed from walkways within a certain time period.  This does not seem to be the case in Strasbourg.  Most places here never get shoveled at all.  The snow gets trampled by walkers and bikers until it is compacted into a hard path of ice, making things dangerous.  A few businesses and government buildings use salt to melt the ice but this is a rarity.  It is very normal to have the snow lay on the sidewalks until it melts naturally.

I was very surprised last week when I saw a man shoveling dirt onto the sidewalk to make a safer path for pedestrians.  This was the first time I had seen this particular practice of combating the slippery surfaces.  The dirt had a reddish tint to it.  The Strasbourg cathedral is made from a local stone that is a pinkish color.  Maybe the man was sprinkling dust made from the same kind of stone?  I guess it really doesn't matter what it was made from.  What did matter was that I didn't have to watch my step so closely for a least a block.  I really appreciated this man's efforts in making it safer for me, as well as others, to stroll his street.