Dein erstes Forum » Sidewalk Repair & Replacement

Mark McDowell has been watching the gold standard in sidewalk repair in front of his house. He said parkway trees had torn up large sections of sidewalk, but over several weeks in May and June, city work crews ripped out the sidewalks from curb to curb and installed new concrete and wheelchair ramps at the corners. Several side streets also got the same treatment. A neighbor who has difficulty walking requested the overhaul, but the entire neighborhood benefits, getting new sidewalks and wheelchair ramps at no cost to property owners.

A top priority of the city's Access Request Program is to provide safe paths of travel for people with disabilities to get from their homes to school, work or transit stops. One-fifth of the spending in this first official year of the settlement must go to improving sidewalks needed by disabled people. "Individual requests for program access fixes will be prioritized in residential neighborhoods that are necessary to provide access to bus stops or other forms of public transit," the settlement says. Mark McDowell has been watching the gold standard in sidewalk repair in front of his house. He said parkway trees had torn up large sections of sidewalk, but over several weeks in May and June, city work crews ripped out the sidewalks from curb to curb and installed new concrete and wheelchair ramps at the corners. Several side streets also got the same treatment. A neighbor who has difficulty walking requested the overhaul, but the entire neighborhood benefits, getting new sidewalks and wheelchair ramps at no cost to property owners. "The initial requester might be asking for the sidewalk in front of their house but ultimately various public works personnel will assess really if the proper fix is corner to corner of the block," said Geoffrey Straniere of the city's Department on Disability. He coordinates sidewalk repair requests to ensure they meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. "I've been asking them to fix the sidewalk right here for the longest time. I tell them I can't go outside," said Guerra, who uses a walker to get around. He's frustrated and said he has not received a definitive answer from the city when the sidewalk in front of his home will be fixed. Julie Sauter, who oversees the bureau's sidewalk program, says one person with a mobility disability who reports broken sidewalks could trigger a far more extensive repair to the neighbors' parcels. "My sidewalks weren't particularly terrible, but they were bad enough that I've been wanting to fix them for years," said Bruce Stevens, who received rebates for fixing sidewalks in front of his own home and for two adjacent rental homes he owns. Huizar's office spent about a half-million dollars of the discretionary funds each council office gets to do special things around the district, spokesman Rick Coca said. Huizar's office collects names and addresses of requests for sidewalk repairs and passes them on to the Bureau of Street Services to decide on the priority of the repair, he said.. There is no set amount that each council district spends on sidewalks and no set process. For example, Councilman David Ryu has a special committee of community members evaluate requests for discretionary funds.