Glens Falls rolls out public GIS dashboards to guide sidewalk and paving priorities

City GIS and public works staff demonstrated a newly launched public GIS Hub and interactive dashboards intended to help the city prioritize sidewalk, curb ramp and pavement repairs.

The presentation, led by “Sarah” (GIS staff), showed layered maps that filter pedestrian facilities by ward, show DOT-standard condition ratings and mark sidewalk gaps as dotted gray lines. “These are DOT standard ratings for pedestrian facilities, going from 4 being fully accessible to 1 being not accessible,” Sarah said, walking council members through the dashboard and a separate pavement layer that uses DOT scores of 1–10.

Council members and staff said the dashboards should help set priorities for the upcoming construction season. Councilman Lapham suggested the city add a layer showing which locations have no sidewalks; staff confirmed that the dashboard already includes a filter for sidewalk gaps and can show contract-year filters dating back to 2022 so members can see work performed by year or contract. Jeremy (city staff) and other staff suggested the data will help avoid repeating work done by utilities if project schedules are coordinated.

Council members pressed staff on ADA obligations and on whether the city has a formal transition plan; one council member said accessibility should be the guiding priority for discretionary sidewalk work. Staff said the dashboards include accessibility scores and that they can add or highlight an ADA transition-plan layer. They also discussed adding National Grid’s five‑year gas replacement schedule as a separate layer where data are publicly available and coordinating schedules where possible. Staff cautioned that National Grid does not publicly share all core infrastructure data but that the city will add any information the utility provides.

Presenters also showed a 3‑D “digital twin” preview that extrudes tree inventory and sidewalk data to help nontechnical users visualize proposed infill or repair work. Staff noted 3‑D views require additional z-value data (height) and that some tree attributes such as exact height were estimated in the current data set.

Staff requested that council members review the online dashboard and return prioritized streets or corners within two to four weeks so staff can incorporate council input into the bid and contract schedule. Staff said they are aiming to get contracts ready so work can be awarded by about June 1.

Council members asked staff to flag sidewalks that intersect school routes and to show any projects that are already included in the school district or AGFTC (regional planning) plans, so the city can avoid duplicating work. Staff agreed to add metadata about other agencies’ planned work where available and to include funding-source notes for items driven by grants or other programs.

Council members also recommended coordinating project choices with the Complete Streets Task Force and the Tree Commission for design review, tree protection, and potential bike-lane considerations.

The presentation concluded with staff offering to accept emailed priorities and to provide a filtered dashboard view for each council ward.

The council did not take a formal vote on program priorities at the meeting; staff asked for council comment and proposed a short timeline for returning priorities so the department can meet bid and contract deadlines.