Title
Sidewalk Condition Inventory Results
Recommended Action
Information only. No action requested.
Report
Issue:
Discussion on the Sidewalk Condition Inventory.
Staff Contact:
Max DeJarnatt, Associate Planner, Public Works Transportation Planning, 360.570.3723
Presenter(s):
Max DeJarnatt, Associate Planner
Background and Analysis:
Some sidewalks in Olympia are in a state of poor repair, and City efforts to encourage the adjacent property owners to fix them are often not successful.
Currently, OMC 12.36.010 requires adjacent property owners to repair their sidewalks. The City does maintain sidewalks on streets where we maintain street trees: downtown and along many major corridors. [MS1]These streets have a lot of pedestrian activity and transit stops.
Elsewhere, once we are aware of a damaged sidewalk, we send a letter to the property owner and request that they repair the sidewalk adjacent to their property.
In November 2023, City staff briefed the Land Use and Environment Committee, a City Council committee, on the City's approach to sidewalk repair. As part of that briefing we shared examples of approaches used by other cities. The Committee requested that staff complete a sidewalk condition inventory to understand the extent of sidewalk damage citywide.
Over the summer of 2024, a contractor completed this inventory, identifying nearly 28,000 unique areas of sidewalk damage. They categorized these areas by type and severity level. Their final report, attached, summarizes their findings.
In 2024, staff used $450,000 in capital funds to repair 19 sites of sidewalk damage throughout the city. Also last year, City crews repaired 25 sites of damage. This data is useful in considering a path forward for addressing sidewalk repair, because it allows us to better understand the costs of repair, both when we do it in-house and when we hire an outside contractor.
At this meeting, staff will share the results of the inventory and the relative costs ...
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