Sidewalk Requests

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POLICY STATEMENT 135

SIDEWALK REQUESTS

Prepared by: Laura Cove, Director of Transportation and Facilities

Supersedes: 12/14/06
Adopted by Council: 10/30/14
Effective: 10/30/14

Purpose

To adopt an official policy pertaining to sidewalk construction requests from citizens along residential and collector streets through residential areas. Staff will continue to take individual citizen requests for sidewalks along thoroughfares and in non-residential areas to provide for safer and more enjoyable non-motorized travel. Staff may recommend sidewalks outside of the petition process for consideration by Town Council. A general target of fifty percent of funding shall be established for allocation of funds for citizen requests, with the remaining fifty percent of funds allocated for staff recommended projects.

Coverage

This policy upon adoption by the Town Council shall be applicable to all sidewalk construction requests until such time that the policy statement is altered, modified, or rescinded by the Town Council.

Policy

The Town Council of the Town of Cary hereby establishes the following policy to ensure that sidewalk requests along residential and collector streets through residential areas receive the support of the community.

A. Citizens may submit requests for sidewalk construction to the Transportation and Facilities Department. In order for a sidewalk request to be considered, a petition shall be submitted with the request. Staff will provide the requestor with a map and addresses of the “area of influence.” The sidewalk request requires 70% acceptance by homeowners within the “area of influence.”

B. Assuming the request meets the qualifying criteria the request will be placed on the Town’s Annual Sidewalk Priority List. Requests that are placed on the Town’s Annual Sidewalk Priority List will be rated once a year based on the criteria included on the attached Sidewalk Rating Sheet. Staff will estimate construction costs, rate, and rank all sidewalk requests received yearly and present an annual sidewalk priority list to Town Council for approval of projects that can be constructed with the budgeted funds from the current Capital Improvements Budget. Some locations will be divided into multiple phases when the construction costs become excessive and where a logical breaking point can be determined.

C. Staff may also recommend sidewalk projects in an effort to ensure high priority locations in need of pedestrian facilities are considered as part of the annual sidewalk priority list. Staff will focus requests on priority projects such as missing sidewalk links along major residential roadways, connections to greenways, schools and activity centers and locations requiring maintenance and/or ADA (American Disability Act) compliance. Staff recommended sidewalk requests will be compiled annually, along with citizen-initiated requests, and incorporated into the rating and approval process described in Section B above.

Qualifying Criteria:

Streets along which sidewalk is to be installed shall be paved and have curb and gutter along both sides. Streets without curb and gutter will be considered with a lower priority.
There shall be at least six (6) feet of right-of-way between the back of curb and the adjoining property line.
The sidewalk shall be installed in accordance with the Town of Cary Standard Specifications and Details.

SIDEWALK RATING SHEET

Date:	_____________________________________________________
Rated By:	_____________________________________________________
Sidewalk On:	_____________________________________________________
From:	_____________________________________________________
To:	_____________________________________________________

Criteria	Measure		Weight	Rating
Average Daily Traffic (ADT)	ADT Scale (See Below)	___	4*
Current Pedestrian Use	Scale of 1 - 10 1 - No Worn Path/No Pedestrians 10 - Worn Path/Many Pedestrians	___	5*
School Proximity	Scale #1 (See Below)	___	5
Public Park/Recreation Facility Proximity	Scale #1 (See Below)	___	4
DevelopmentActivity CenterProximity	Scale #1 (See Below)	___	4
Greenway Proximity	Scale #1 (See Below)	___	4
Existing Sidewalk Proximity/Connectivity	Scale #2 (See Below)	___	3
Mass Transit Stop Proximity	Scale #1 (See Below)	___	2
Other Factors (Right-of-Way, Curb & Gutter, Utilities, Topo, Etc.)	Scale of 1 - 10 1 - Most Problems 10 - Fewest Problems (Determined Subjectively)	___	3
Consecutive Years on Priority List	Indicate Number of Consecutive Years the Specific Location has been on the List	___	2
			Total:

ADT SCALE		SCALE #1		SCALE #2
10	> 18,000 Vehicles / Day	10	0 – 0.25 mile	10	0 – 0.1 mile
9	16,000 – 18,000	9	0.25 – 0.5 mile	8	0.1 – 0.2 mile
8	14,000 – 16,000	8	0.5 – 0.75 mile	6	0.2 – 0.3 mile
7	12,000 – 14,000	7	0.75 – 1 mile	4	0.3 – 0.4 mile
6	10,000 – 12,000	6	1 – 1.5 miles	2	0.4 – 0.5 mile
5	8,000 – 10,000	5	1.5 – 2 miles	0	> 0.5 mile
4	6,000 – 8,000	4	2 – 3 miles
3	4,000 – 6,000	3	3 – 4 miles
2	2,000 – 4,000	2	4 – 5 miles
1	< 2,000	1	> 5 miles
If ADT Not Available: Residential Street or Cul-De-Sac = 1 Collector Street = 2 Marginal Access Street = 3

*Note: For sidewalk requests on streets with existing sidewalk on one side, Average Daily Traffic (ADT) and Current Pedestrian Use weights will be reduced by half.