SLEDDING

SLEDDING. On January 9, 1911 the following article appeared in the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald:

                         Coasters Out in Numbers

         Third Street Hill Attracts Many Merrymakers on Monday

         For the first time this season, the coasters were out in
         large numbers on Third Street hill on Monday afternoon.
         The incline was in ideal condition after the snow and ice
         of the recent spell, and some record-breaking time was
         made by the young folks.

         The spectacle of the bob-sleds of coasters coming down the
         steep slide is always an interesting one to strangers in
         the city, and the crossing at Third and Main STREETS
         usually serves as a vantage point for numbers of them to
         view the fun while it is in progress. (1)

In 1925 in order to prevent serious accidents, the DUBUQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT banned "coasting" on many streets considered "dangerous" and announced their intention to enforce the order. The streets involved included Dodge, Bryant, South Locust, Southern Avenue, West Third, West Fifth, West Eighth, Hill, Diagonal, Windsor, Burden, Julien (Clarke Drive), Wilson, Burch, West Twelfth, West Fourteenth, Clark, West Seventeenth, West Locust, Kirkwood, Madison, North Main, Heeb, West Twenty-Third, West Twenty-Fourth, East Twenty-Fourth, East Twenty-Ninth, Stafford, Roosevelt, West Twenty-Eighth and Shiras. The police designated other streets for coasting and closed them to traffic during designated coasting hours. (2)

During the 1930s, steep streets for sledding were set aside by Dubuque Officials. Barricades to limit vehicular traffic were placed by work crews while coasting was allowed. Once the children went home at night, fathers in the neighborhood were asked to remove the barricades. It is assumed they were asked to replace them in the morning. The number of these designated sledding areas reached twelve by 1938. (3)

In 1946 sections of twelve streets in all parts of the city were blocked off by the police for sledding. These streets included Rosedale and Atlantic, Cherry, Booth, State, Villa, 17th, Vernon, Regent, Stoltz, and Ann. Automobiles were not prohibited from the areas entirely, but drivers were told to proceed with extreme caution. (4)

On January 7, 2015 the city council voted to ban sledding in 48 of its 50 public parks. The new ordinance was put in place to protect the city from expensive lawsuits, provides for $750 fines for repeat offenses. A lawsuit in Boone, Iowa, cost that city $12 million after a woman hit a concrete block on public property and claimed negligence on the part of the city. (4)

Mayor Roy D. BUOL said the city was forced to because state lawmakers have not moved on legislation that would protect cities from what he called frivolous lawsuits. In Iowa, someone cannot sue a city if they are injured while doing activities like biking on public property. But sledding is not covered under that law and leaves cities open to lawsuits. In response to criticism, the council expanded the number of parks for sledding to five on January 20, 2015. (6)

On April 1, 2015 Gov. Terry Branstad signed a bill into law protecting cities from liability when people were injured skateboarding or biking on city property but did not include a sledding protection. This law changes the language to provide protection from injuries sustained during "recreational activities," which means sledding would be covered. (7)

In May 2015, members of the city council approved repealing a section of city ordinance that banned sledding in certain city parks. (8)

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Source:

1. "Coasters Out in Numbers," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, January 9, 1911, p. 16

2."Ban Coasting on Many City Streets," Telegraph Herald, December 6, 1925, p. 18. Online:https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gCRFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ULsMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5368,6895609&dq=water+department+dubuque&hl=en

3. "Dubuque Sledding," Dubuque by the Decades, Telegraph Herald, July, 2020, p. 12

4. "Open Streets for Coasting," Telegraph-Herald, December 22, 1946, p. 5

5. Blanchard, Lauren. Sledding on Ice: Fear of Lawsuits Makes Dubuque Latest City to Ban Winter Rite,"http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2015/01/10/sledding-on-ice-fear-lawsuits-makes-dubuque-latest-city-to-ban-winter-rite/

6. "Dubuque Adds 3 Parks to Approved Sledding List," Online: http://www.thonline.com/news/tri-state/article_d682f449-7612-52a0-89f7-e1e5b43d5274.html

7. "Governor Signs Bill Protecting Cities From Sledding Claims," Online: http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=1185711#.VShvMRcQTsY

8. "Dubuque's Sledding Ban Officially Off the Books," Telegraph Herald, May 26, 2015, p. 3A