Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Public Works
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TO: |
David L. Corliss, City Manager |
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FROM: |
Charles F. Soules, Director of Public Works |
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CC: |
David Cronin, Walt Ward |
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DATE: |
June 5, 2014 |
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RE: |
Complete Streets Program |
Background
Over the last several years the City has made a lot of progress in connecting sidewalks (GAP Map-Attachment A) and adding other multimodal facilities such as bike lanes, multi-use paths, and pedestrian beacons (HAWK Signals). Attached is a partial listing of the many projects the City has completed (Attachment B). Sidewalks, bike lanes, traffic calming, and other complete street elements are regularly reviewed and incorporated into transportation projects.
Recently Public Works has completed and updated the sidewalk inventory. Attached is a memo summarizing those findings (Attachment C).
Similar to the pavement condition process, the inventory identifies sidewalks that need repairs, gaps in existing areas, areas where no sidewalks exist, and ADA ramps.
Proposed Program
Currently the City process for maintenance and repairing sidewalks is complaint driven. Upon receipt of a complaint on condition, the area is inspected and letters are sent to property owners to make the repairs. Staff spends a significant amount of time assisting property owners that make the repairs. We have received about a 60% compliance rate however the complaint driven process is sporadic and not necessarily consistent. The City has not pursued condemnation and assessing repair costs to adjacent owners that have not completed the required repairs.
Attachment D includes what other local area municipalities are doing with respect to sidewalk maintenance.
For 2015 the City has discussed wanting to make additional progress in implementation of complete street elements. The addition of a program manager (Coordinator/Engineer) and administrative staff will be necessary.
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Manager (coordinator/engineer) |
$ 100,000 annual |
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Administrative staff |
$ 45,000 annual |
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Vehicle |
$ 30,000 |
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Computer |
$ 15,000 |
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Miscellaneous |
$ 10,000 |
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Total First Year |
$200,000 |
The program manager would have the following duties:
Ø Fixed rate transit and Pedestrian Accessibility Study (Attachment E) Ø Countywide Bikeway System Plan (Attachment F – Lawrence Bike Map)
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Additional Considerations
The budget for the program includes $200,000 for staffing. Other projects completed will be included with project funding or through grants. Staffing costs do need a separate dedicated funding source and should not be taken from Street Maintenance as has been presented as an option.
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The 2015 budget submittal only includes: |
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Ø $1.9 million General Fund |
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Ø $325,000 from Gas Tax |
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Ø $800,000 from Infrastructure Sales Tax |
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Ø $140,000 from Stormwater for Curb & Gutter |
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Total $3,165,000 |
The City has made some good progress in improving the overall PCI and decreasing deterioration rates. However we need to remain vigilant, a bad winter and wet spring could cause significant deterioration. An annual recommended $6.0 million/year is needed to maintain current conditions. The 2015 proposed budget request already does not meet the maintenance need.
Attached (Attachment G) is a memo from Steve Lashley, Pavement Engineer, about critical street maintenance needs.
Summary
The City has made some progress over the last several years filling gaps in the existing sidewalk network.
Sidewalk maintenance needs and areas where the sidewalks are not in existence have developed over many years and will take several years to make progress to have sidewalks in good repair and on at least one side of the street.
All modes of transportation need to be considered under a Complete Streets Program.
A new dedicated funding source is needed.