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City selects DeepWalk for sidewalk condition pilot; full data collection planned this summer
Summary
Council heard that the city awarded an RFQ to DeepWalk to pilot a smartphone LiDAR program to map sidewalk presence and condition. A two-week pilot in May will assess about 15 miles split across council districts; staff plans a larger contract (~$300,000) to map more of the network and return with a draft sidewalk program this fall.
City staff briefed the PIES Committee on a sidewalk‑condition pilot contract with DeepWalk that uses smartphone LiDAR to gather condition data, a step staff said is needed before recommending program design or funding approaches.
Lorena Croucher, who leads the effort, told the committee the city issued an RFQ in mid‑March and opened submissions on April 8; three firms applied and the team selected DeepWalk. "The pilot phase is about $9,000 and we will be starting that work immediately in May. It'll take about two weeks and we'll use internal staff for that," Croucher said.
Staff said the pilot will aim to assess 15 miles of sidewalk — roughly five miles in each council district — and that the larger full‑scale contract for condition data collection would be closer to $300,000. That full collection work is planned for June and would use summer GIS interns to walk and scan the network; staff said they are recruiting interns now.
Kevin Picasso and Croucher told the committee the city already received a lower‑cost scan of where sidewalks are present versus missing and is updating GIS layers. The new DeepWalk condition data will let the city quantify locations and severity of damaged sidewalk and evaluate program structures — from a city‑led fee program to 50/50 cost‑share reimbursement models — to address missing and deteriorated sidewalks.
Staff said they will analyze funding strategies, legal code changes (SMC amendments if needed), and return with a draft sidewalk program policy in the fall or winter. The pilot evidence and the full dataset will feed prioritization, design and cost estimates.
No formal council action was required at the briefing; staff said the pilot contract notice was being executed for May.
