BIKE: support for the 15 percent rule

[forjador]

Mike-

Thanks for that photo essay.  You know what they say about pictures and
words.  

Every time I drive Stassney/Montopolis east of I-35(my shortcut to the
airport), I marvel at the chain of decisions that must have taken place
that led to sidewalks being built on both sides of Montopolis in a
miles-long stretch where no houses or businesses exist (the area appears to
be a floodplain-you really have to strain your eyes to see the sidewalks
through the weeds and cattails that are four to five feet high), yet the
sidewalks evaporate once you get into neighborhoods where humans live and
work (around the Nuckoll's Crossing intersection).  Actually, sidewalks
appear in segments, THEN disappear, then may reappear--but on the other
side of the road.  In many dozens of trips back and forth between my house
and the airport, I've not yet seen one pedestrian on the sections I've
mentioned, but do regularly see people walking through muddy ruts or out in
the street in the more populated areas.

This is just an extreme example of a phenomenon I see in all sections of
town--sidewalks are built along both sides of the street in some places,
only one side in others, concrete stops mid-block here, turns to muddy rut,
then resumes across the street two blocks later--examples are abundant.

The questions that come to mind are:

(1) What standards, if any, exist that dictate where and when sidewalks
must be built within the city?

(2) What is the city's committment, if any, for getting them built, and for
connecting disjointed segments?  

(3) Does the city commit a given percentage of its budget for sidewalks? 
By what process, if any, are those allocations made each year?

(4) What percent of the budget goes to new construction vs. maintenance?

(5) Who has these answers?

Thanks,
forjador





Original Message:
-----------------
From: Mike Dahmus mdahmus
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 12:45:54 -0600
To: forum
Subject: BIKE: support for the 15 percent rule


I just finished (finally) my photo essay on the 183 sidewalk situation 
near my office, with general commentary on the 15% bike/ped set-aside. 
If interested, check out 
http://www.io.com/~mdahmus/183sidewalks/183sidewalks.html.

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