Paul StinsonThe city of Georgetown is moving ahead with $31.6 million in sidewalk repairs, including $22.8 million in fixes to gaps near the city’s roadways and greenspaces. The upgrades, outlined in a master plan approved in January, are part of an evolving effort to assess pedestrian infrastructure and promote a safe city for walking.
City officials said fixes to public school projects will take priority, with $7.7 million in repairs slated for sidewalk segments that offer direct access to schools.
Georgetown will also direct $22.8 million toward repairing sidewalk network gaps, targeting fixes to segments located along arterial roadways or to those potentially providing access to Georgetown’s 83 miles of trails.
The city will also spend $1 million on capital improvement projects that don’t require right-of-way (ROW) acquisition, professional engineering and are segments less than 200-feet in length. A separate project to complete the downtown’s sidewalk network is budgeted for $775,000.
Looking ahead to future maintenance needs, city officials said new sidewalks are expected to have a useful lifecycle of 50 years.
Each sidewalk segment was assigned a priority score based on a criteria that includes proximity to areas that attract pedestrians – such as public schools, parks and trails, retail settings, downtown and Southwestern University. Other factors include public feedback and pedestrian safety based on pedestrian-vehicle crash history and school proximity.
