For years, Littleton has split the cost of replacing entrances to driveways for homeowners who don’t like to drive over the “bump” created by sidewalks that roll over the curbs.
Charlie Blosten, director of public works, wants to stop. He says 90 percent of the work done through the concrete-replacement program is to replace perfectly good concrete, when there are hundreds of sidewalks that are in dire need of repair.
“In some places it’s so bad you don’t even want to walk on the sidewalk, you want to walk on the street,” he told City Council during a July 10 study session.
Homeowners are responsible for maintaining sidewalks adjacent to their property. Through the program, they’re charged $200 for repairs; Blosten said a private contractor might charge as much as $1,000. He has a list of the worst walks and would rather spend his time offering to split the cost of repair with those people than responding to calls about driveways.
Councilor Jim Taylor would rather find a way to continue to do both.
“I just think that’s a service we’ve been providing for a number of years, and I’d hate to see it go away,” he said.
“We’ve got aging infrastructure, and want to focus on what’s falling apart,” replied City Manager Michael Penny.
Blosten said the program is maxed out at 60 to 65 projects a year, at an annual cost of about $90,000. Doing any more than that would require not just more money, he said, but more staff or the need to contract the jobs out.
The program is separate from sidewalk replacement funded by community development block grants, which can only be used in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods to combat blight.
Councilor Bruce Beckman asked about bringing sidewalks into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Blosten said whenever he gets a request for a specific location, it goes to the top of the list. He gets one or two of those a year, he said, usually at an intersection.
“There’s no charge, because it’s for the benefit of the community,” he said.
Under Blosten’s proposal, places where the sidewalk is actually part of the driveway would still qualify for repairs.
“But what we don’t want is people going out to their driveway with a sledgehammer and then calling up and saying the sidewalk’s no good,” he said.
Council will consider his proposal at an upcoming meeting.