District 11 Sidewalk Repairs Begin Summer 2024

posted February 9, 2024 - 11:04am

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City of Madison

District 11 is one of the two districts scheduled for sidewalk repairs in 2024, with District 19 being the other. Sidewalk repairs rotates throughout the City on a 10 year cycle (averaging 2 districts a year). Sidewalks marked with arrows or x’s are designated for replacement, while sidewalks marked with a pink line or c’s are designated for saw cutting. The sidewalk program was created to identify and repair defects in sidewalks. Such defects can be cracks, broken sections, offsets creating trip hazards and water ponding that leads to icing issues in Winter. Work is expected to progress through the district over the course of the summer. 2/7/24 project update: "District 11 sidewalk repair and replacement (Contract #8756) bid is pending approval by the Board of Public Works and the Common Council, but is expected to begin advertising for bids on March 7, 2024."

One substantial change to the sidewalk repair and replacement program was implemented in 2023 by a change in city ordinance (File 74024) that stipulated these projects are no longer assessed to adjacent property owners. I was one of the four sponsors on this resolution. Previously policy was that 50% of sidewalk repair costs were assessed. That means the sidewalk repairs in our District this summer are now 100% funded out of the City budget, and no separate bills will be sent to property owners. These changes in policy will also reduce the number of obstacles and opposition to installation of new sidewalks on residential streets.

Unfortunately, when city staff began inspected the condition of sidewalks in districts 11 and 19 late last fall, they discovered that there was more repair work needed than anticipated. Due to this increased amount of work, the Engineering Department is proposing a budget transfer from two other city projects to the Sidewalk Program to cover the overages. This transfer of funds will require no new borrowing. This budget transfer will be introduced at the next Common Council meeting ( File 81979 ) and discussed at Finance Committee on 2/26/24. The resolution will then come back to the Common Council for a vote on 3/5/24.