City approves sidewalk resolutions; Property owners will need to put down pavement

Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2010

By: CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter

The property owners in three Madison neighborhoods will need to start planning on the installation of new or improved sidewalks next summer after the Madison City Commission approved on Monday requirements for paved pathways in those areas.

The city commissioners held a hearing before they voted on whether to require property owners in the three neighborhoods to either improve their existing sidewalks or build new sidewalks.

Several residents from the affected neighborhoods attended the city meeting.

Brent Tulloss, a Lincoln Ave. resident, noted that the commissioners were considering giving their approvals to resolutions of necessity in authorizing the 2011 sidewalk projects. Tulloss asked the commissioners as to why city officials had considered sidewalks along Lincoln Ave. as a necessity.

Commissioner Dick Ericsson explained to Tulloss that Madison's sidewalk improvement program was a multi-year, ongoing project to improve pedestrian safety in the city. Ericsson said the municipal sidewalk committee was a volunteer group working with goals that included improving safety -- "get people off the streets" -- while walking through neighborhoods and consistency -- "have sidewalks everywhere."

The neighborhoods on the 2011 sidewalk improvement schedule are Lincoln Ave. between N.E. 5th and N.E. 11th streets, N.E. 2nd St. between Washington and Harth avenues, and Washington Ave. between S. 8th and S. 9th streets.

According to Ericsson, the sidewalk committee recommended the Lincoln Ave. project due to the amount of pedestrian traffic in the neighborhood caused by residents using the Madison Community Center.

Commissioner Karen Lembcke told Tulloss that the city was, in part, working on sidewalk improvement efforts due to safety considerations and to lower the costs of liability insurance. Lembcke said the city commissioners had approved a sidewalk inspection program earlier in 2010 in which property owners would receive notices that they needed to improve or replace deteriorated walkways.

Lembcke told Tulloss that other Madison property owners outside of the three project areas were told that they needed to improve their existing sidewalks during 2011, including herself.

©Madison Daily Leader 2010