News of coming sidewalks received nearly joyous approval from the Saratoga Springs City Council Tuesday evening.
Dan Rourke an engineer with Barton and Loguidice and a consultant on the city's Missing Sidewalks Links project said the survey has identified 11 locations within one mile of the city’s urban core that will get upgrades with connections made to current sidewalks.
"Overall, this project will provide 1.8 miles of new sidewalks, which is a huge, huge number," he said.
The project is part of the federal Surface Transportation Program, which covers 80% of the $1.9 million project. The final $380,000 comes as a local match from the city.
"This [project] was already bonded and approved by city council,” Cristina “Tina” Carton reminded the council. She is the administrator of Parks, Open Lands, Historic Preservation and Sustainability.
The decisions on which sidewalks are getting fixed stem from the city’s Complete Streets Plan and Comprehensive Plan, Rourke said. Also, the choices had to follow certain guidelines outlined by the federal grant.
Mayor Meg Kelly said that streets that didn’t make the cut did not quite meet the guidelines.
"Definitely, there's a lot of streets in the city that didn't make the cut," she said. But she added that the project is great for the city. The sidewalks will attach to other sidewalks already in existence and will be ADA compliant. She mentioned the dangerous nature of East Avenue, which she used to bike. It has no sidewalks near Route 50.
"It just makes it so much nicer for every neighborhood," Kelly said.
The project is finishing its design approval phase in July, determining probably cost estimates, Rourke said. They will evaluate specific details before issuing a Request For Proposals from contractors.
Next up will be neighborhood meetings, which can be followed on the city’s Missing Sidewalks Links page. The page will soon have a calendar that interested people may subscribe to. Neighborhood meetings and other information will be added to the calendar, Rourke said.
Construction documentation and agency approvals will come by January 2022 and construction should start in April and finish in July.
He added a couple caveats during his presentation to the city council: although the city is installing the sidewalks, it is the responsibility of the adjacent landowner to clear snow from them. The sidewalks will run through current driveways that they encounter, with the least disturbance, he said.
Commissioner of Public Safety Robin Dalton said that clearing sidewalks can be difficult for some people and the city should look at that particular code to make sure it is fair to people.
Mayor Kelly who is stepping down at the end of her term this year, smiled and quipped: “That's a great project for you, Commissioner."
The areas set for completion include:
- Seward Street from Pearl to Morgan streets.
- First Street from State Street to North Broadway.
- State Street from First to Third streets.
- Third Street from State Street to North Broadway.
- East Avenue from North Broadway to Bryan Street.
- East Avenue from Maple to Excelsior avenues.
- East Avenue from Bingham to Avery streets.
- Vanderbilt Avenue from Crescent to Fenlon streets.
- W. Fenlon Street from Route 50 to Route 9.
- Congress Avenue from West Avenue to New Street.
- Grand Avenue from West Avenue to Hyde Street.