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Residents urge no-delay construction of Brockman and Crestland sidewalks serving three schools
Summary
Multiple callers at the Ann Arbor Transportation Commission’s March 19 meeting pressed city staff to proceed with planned sidewalk construction on Brockman and Crestland streets, saying delays endanger schoolchildren and the sidewalks must include buffers and full-width designs.
Several Ann Arbor residents told the Transportation Commission on March 19 that planned sidewalks on Brockman and Crestland should proceed without further delay and be built to full accessibility standards.
The residents said Brockman and Crestland are direct walking routes to multiple schools and described repeated instances of children walking in the street where sidewalks are missing or substandard. Molly Kleinman, a former transportation commissioner, said Brockman is a route to Tappan, Pattengill and Saint Francis schools and described “kids walking in the street in a section where there are major turns, where there’s parking of large trucks on both sides.”
Why it matters: Callers said the planned project already aims to preserve most trees while staying in public right-of-way and that tying sidewalk construction to separate traffic calming petitions would delay the work indefinitely. Adam Juskiewicz, a Fourth Ward resident, said the project is currently not slated to start until 2026 and “tying it to a traffic calming project that’s at the bottom of the queue is an unacceptable delay.”
Residents pressed the commission and staff to build the sidewalks to the city’s standard widths and to include tree lawns or other buffers separating pedestrians from traffic. Eric Ivancic, calling from the Third Ward, noted that five-foot sidewalks allow two wheelchairs to pass and called for that standard rather than narrower, curb-adjacent sidewalks. Several speakers said the sidewalks are local priorities funded through property taxes and the sidewalk program, and urged the city to honor that investment by building fully accessible facilities.
City staff actions and context: Commissioners and staff present acknowledged the sidewalk projects in the packet and said the city is managing design and scheduling. Callers asked staff to avoid further study delays and to keep Brockman and Crestland in the current project scope rather than deferring them until other nearby traffic-calming work is completed.
What was not decided: No formal vote or new directive was recorded on the sidewalk projects during the March 19 meeting. Speakers urged prompt action and clearer timelines from staff; staff indicated the projects remain in the city’s design pipeline and that construction is not expected until later in the capital program (one caller cited 2026 as the current target year).
