CEDAR RAPIDS - A walk downtown right after a snow storm can get a little frustrating. One minute the sidewalk is clean and nearly dry, the next block it's covered with snow and ice.

"The ones that are occupied seem to be getting the service that is needed, and the others aren't," said one person walking downtown.

It's a side-effect of the flood, yet just as in all the neighborhoods, sidewalks in downtown need to be shoveled within 48 hours of a snow-event.

A change this year is that the time limit doesn't change even if it snows the next day too.

So, how clean do these sidewalks need to be?

Last year, a snowy sidewalk wouldn't pass the city code because if simply has snow on it. But that changed this year. Now it doesn't need to be completely clean, just clean enough.

The change comes after a suggestion that sidewalks covered with ice could be made safe to walk on with just salt and sand - instead of spending days trying to chip away all the ice.

If someone calls inspectors to your home, the inspectors will use the grandma test.

"That means that here in Iowa, what would make it for your grandma, your aunt, your uncle, or parents, for reasonable consideration," said Craig Hanson, Cedar Rapids Streets Department.

Remember though, that's not your grandma, it's the inspectors grandma who will do the deciding.

Email Justin Foss at Justin.Foss@kcrg.com