Trailnet asks committee to fold 50‑50 sidewalk program into Streets Department and create planning division

Trailnet policy representative Charles Bryson asked the committee to create a permanent streets planning division and to end the city’s 50‑50 sidewalk cost‑sharing program so sidewalk repair funds can be consolidated and deployed based on a citywide accessibility and safety plan.

Bryson said the city has rising pedestrian fatalities and deteriorating sidewalks in many neighborhoods; he recommended a planning division within the Streets Department that would use existing staff — a complete streets coordinator, a bike‑ped coordinator and the street‑department liaison — to prioritize repairs and maintenance and to identify projects that reduce dangerous interactions between people and cars.

On the 50‑50 sidewalk program, Bryson argued the arrangement is inequitable: small homeowners in lower‑income neighborhoods are often unable to pay their 50 percent share. “All sidewalk line items should be allocated to the streets department, allowing the planning division within the streets department the opportunity to evaluate them in light of the TMP and determine the best course of action,” he said, referencing the city’s transportation master plan.

Committee members said they have heard similar concerns and that city staff and aldermanic offices will follow up about program structure and funding options; the Streets Department’s capital and operating allocations were also discussed earlier in the Payne presentation (salt replenishment, gas‑tax capital flows).

Ending: Trailnet asked the committee to evaluate consolidating sidewalk funding into the Streets Department and to create a planning unit to prioritize sidewalks and pedestrian safety as part of FY26 deliberations.