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Highway superintendent: new 1-mile school walk zones overwhelm existing sidewalk plans
Summary
Tippecanoe County Highway Superintendent described how a switch to a 1-mile school walk zone has disrupted sidewalk prioritization, creating a costly backlog of needed pedestrian connections across many older subdivisions.
Stu Klein, Tippecanoe County Highway Superintendent, told the Accessibility Coalition on July 29 that a new policy change at the school corporation expanding a walk zone to one mile has upended existing sidewalk-prioritization maps.
Klein said the county has maintained an asset-management transition plan for sidewalks, ramps and trails since February 2012 but that the school change “blew out of the water” previous heat maps used to prioritize pedestrian connections. "It's pretty expensive endeavor because it's not only within the subdivisions, making sure they're up to date, but then between the subdivisions and the schools," Klein said.
Why it matters: the 1-mile walk zone adds many streets and subdivisions to the county’s list for new or improved sidewalks, increasing costs and technical hurdles—especially in older subdivisions that lack curb and gutter and have roadside ditches.
Klein described particular engineering constraints: where subdivisions have side ditches there is “no level ground to put your sidewalk in,” and construction may require rebuilding parts of a subdivision to provide continuous, code-compliant pedestrian facilities. He said the county is prioritizing “low-hanging fruit” such as building one route through large subdivisions to connect to main roads and school access points rather than retrofitting every dead-end street.
The superintendent said current ordinances require internal sidewalks for new development and that a forthcoming thoroughfare plan and updated ordinances will require perimeter sidewalks or developer contributions where new subdivisions border county roads. He noted, however, that many existing subdivisions predate those requirements and lack sidewalks entirely.
Klein and coalition members discussed cooperation with the school corporation, which is creating internal trail systems on school property but has not provided direct funds for off-site pedestrian improvements. He said school property owners sometimes grant right-of-way when paths meet school edges, but municipalities and counties still must resolve the gaps between subdivisions and school entrances.
Coalition members emphasized that sidewalk projects involve more than laying concrete: stormwater, easements, right-of-way acquisition and budgets all add complexity. Participants acknowledged that improving pedestrian access for students and residents will require phased work, coordination with developers, and continued advocacy for funding.
The alliance asked county staff to keep mapping priorities and to identify near-term pedestrian links to schools as the county updates its thoroughfare and sidewalk plans.
