The Roadmap to Safe and Accessible Sidewalks in Atlanta

Sally FlocksPresident & CEO, PEDS

July 30, 2013

By 2030 one out of five people will be over 60.

Most will live an additional 20 – 25 years.

www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden

www.pedbikeimages.org / Dan Burden

Well-maintained sidewalks may be one of the most important ways to keep massive numbers of older people in good enough health to not be institutionalized.

Dan Burdenwww.pedbikeimages.org

Dan Burden

An effective sidewalk maintenance program depends on five principles:

1. Create a comprehensive inventory of sidewalk conditions

2. Use a points-based system to prioritize projects

3. Reduce maintenance costs

4. Amend the City’s sidewalk ordinance

5. Dedicate funding to sidewalk maintenance

Principle 1. Create a comprehensive

inventory of sidewalk conditions

.

Georgia Tech is using a tablet to map, videotape and collect data.

This will create a GIS-based inventory of sidewalk conditions

Principle 2. Use a points-based system to prioritize projects

Score points for both

pedestrian generators

and deficiencies

Principle 3. Reduce maintenance costs

Use a two-pronged approach of

repair and replacement.

Allocate tax dollars only to the cost of plain sidewalks

Make plain sidewalks the default choice.

Add

Assign costs for bricksor stamped hexagonsto abutting property owners or associations

• Replacing trees with ones that match caliper of existing trees

• Using historic sidewalk materials on top of a concrete base in historic districts

Eliminate unfunded mandates

Or allocate sufficient funding so they do not remain barriers to repairing sidewalks

The Americans with Disabilities Act trumps local ordinances.

Photo by Dan Burdenpedbikeimages.org

Public sidewalks are a program of the City that must be accessible to all users.

Photo by Dan Burdenpedbikeimages.org

Principle 4:Amend the sidewalk ordinance

§ 138-103 The Commissioner of Public

Works is authorized to inspect the sidewalks,

. . . condemn promptly pavements on such

sidewalks that are unsafe and unsuitable for

public travel, and to cause repairs to be

made in accordance with city law

and to charge the cost of the repair to the

abutting property owner.

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Enforcement of current sidewalk ordinance

faces numerous barriers

Lack of community support

The annual budget for sidewalk repairs

enables Public Works to address less than

1 percentof the estimated

$152 million backlog of broken sidewalks and curbs.

Limited funding & staff

Atlanta has prioritized sidewalk maintenance so low for decades,

it will be difficult, if not impossible,

to restart a program funded by assessments

from abutting property owners.

Lack of community support for current sidewalk policy

Selective enforcement is inherently unjust..

“What is so frustrating is that there are so many blocks around Delaware where the city repaired the sidewalk at no cost to the residents. It is selective billing and that is simply unfair.”

Edjuardo Julio

than to abutting property owners.

Sidewalks are public assets that provide more benefits to the community at large

than to abutting property owners.

Maintenance costs should be shared by all taxpayers,

not just those whose property abuts sidewalks.

Sidewalks and curbs are often damaged by illegal parking, car wrecks, and other problems

beyond the control of property owners.

Atlanta has a 22.4 % poverty

rate.

High poverty rate

A program relying on property liens as

a major funding source is not sustainable.

23 %

The longer we wait, the more it costs to fix

Principle 5:Identify a funding source

Identify Funding:

The City must identify a funding source that allows the City to re-assume responsibility for construction and maintenance of the sidewalk system.

A parking surcharge could pay for infrastructure repairs

The City of Atlanta has estimated that if a $1 daily surcharge was levied on transactions for 200,000 parking spaces inside of the city, it would generate $75.9 million in its first year of implementation

A bond referendum could help, but competition for funds will be fierce.

In 2011, 60% of Ann Arbor residents voted to fund a city-wide sidewalk repair program that replaced a system assigning financial responsibility for repairs to abutting property owners.

Impact of increasing the property tax rate by 1 mill and dedicating revenue to sidewalk maintenance

Increase revenue by $15 million / year.

Owner of property valued at $200,000 would pay $50 more in annual city taxes

Eliminate backlog of broken sidewalks in 10 years

If given the opportunity, would Atlanta residents vote the same as those in Ann Arbor?

The ADA will force cities to do what they should be doing anyway: maintain public infrastructure.

Donald Shoup, Fixing Broken Sidewalks

Or are lawsuits the only strategy that works?

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