ST. LOUIS – The danger remains in south St. Louis, as the large and dangerous ice buildup FOX 2 reported on Monday has yet to fully go away. Residents say the city seems content to let it melt, and it’s not working out well.
The ice started forming a week ago in the alleys behind Cherokee Street and Minnesota Avenue. After a water leak Monday, ice has built up from four inches to a foot.
Although the temperature topped 45 F on Wednesday, it hardly made a dent in the massive stretches of ice.
Joe Johnson was pedaling up the Cherokee Street alley, saw all of the ice, and put on his breaks.
“That’s dangerous,” he said. “Anybody coming around that corner, hitting that ice, not knowing it, (not) seeing it, they’re going to crash into everything. There’s no stopping.”
Resident Chad Connolly saw the ice forming Jan. 17 when a pipe apparently burst inside a vacant home on Minnesota Avenue.
“I see people walking down here just trying to take trash out, slipping and falling,” Connolly said. “For them to bring trash out, they’ve got to walk through four inches of ice.”
Flood water spilled out the cellar door and down the alleys for five frigid days before the City of St. Louis Water Department shut off water to the house.
Two days later, flood water was no longer streaming into the alleys, but residents were still cut off from their parking spots and had to steer clear of the danger.
“Tuck and roll, man. Glad I’ve got my hard hat on,” Johnson said.
Johnson was wearing a construction hat in place of a bike helmet.
Residents are asking for a city snowplow to break up the ice and clear it away.
Inquiries have been relayed to City Hall and the neighborhood’s alderwoman, Alisha Sonnier (Ward 7), about sending out a snowplow.
