DEPARTMENT: Transportation & Capital Improvements Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Mike Frisbie, P.E.
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Briefing on the City’s Sidewalk Programs and the development of a Conceptual Sidewalk Master Plan
SUMMARY:
The Transportation & Capital Improvements Department (TCI) will provide a briefing to the City Council on the City’s sidewalk programs, potential options being considered to optimize the program and the development of a conceptual sidewalk master plan.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Transportation & Capital Improvements (TCI) Department is responsible for building and maintaining the publicly owned infrastructure of the City of San Antonio to include streets, sidewalks, alleys, traffic signals, and storm water infrastructure.
Sidewalk Programs
The City of San Antonio’s sidewalk network currently consists of 5,037 miles of existing sidewalks with approximately 1,900 miles of gaps to be filled. TCI oversees a number of sidewalk improvement programs that are focused on constructing new sidewalks to close gaps in the network, repairing existing sidewalks, and constructing pedestrian ramps in compliance with the 2009 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Programs include the Bond Program, Infrastructure Management Program (IMP) - Streets and Sidewalks, Neighborhood Access & Mobility Program (NAMP) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program.
The primary mechanism for completing sidewalk improvements is the Sidewalk Maintenance Program which is a component of the Five (5) Year IMP. The program provides a baseline budget of $5 million annually in Advanced Transportation District (ATD) funds to construct new sidewalks where none currently exist. In FY 2016 and FY 2017, the City allocated $15 million in ATD and other funds to the Sidewalk Program, and $5 million in FY 2018.
Sidewalk gaps filled through this program are prioritized according to the following Selection Criteria:
• Pedestrian Safety - Missing sidewalk within 500 feet of an auto-pedestrian crash that occurred within the last three years.
• Sidewalk gap is within 1/4 mile of School
• Provides Transit Access - Missing sidewalk within 500 feet of a VIA Transit stop, along a VIA high ridership route or along a route where VIA deploys their ADA ramp.
• Sidewalk gap is within 1/4 mile of Hospital, Library, Park, Shopping mall or other traffic generating location
Projects are prioritized and programmed in the IMP based on these selection criteria in coordination with the Council Offices to ensure that the selected projects reflect the priorities of the community.
Conceptual Sidewalk Master Plan
As part of an on-going process to further optimize the Sidewalk Program, in February 2018, TCI retained a consultant, AECOM, to assist in the development of a Conceptual Sidewalk Master Plan. The intent of this effort was to utilize existing data to:
• Refine the Scoring Criteria to be used to assess and prioritize required sidewalk improvements (repairs and gaps) on a per-district basis;
• Develop planning-level cost estimates for the construction of new sidewalk segments and the repair of existing sidewalks;
• Identify and align funding sources for the estimated improvements; and
• Develop an annual implementation plan for executing the estimated improvements from 2019 through 2040
Since the retention of the Consultant, TCI has provided two briefings (February & April 2018) to the Transportation Committee on the development of the Conceptual Sidewalk Master Plan. Staff provided an overview of the costs associated with sidewalk projects, reviewed potential scopes for completing required improvements, and obtained feedback for the refinement of the scoring criteria and prioritization matrix. At the last briefing, the committee recommended a staff briefing of the full council at a “B” session.
ISSUE:
The Transportation & Capital Improvements Department (TCI) will provide a briefing to the City Council on the City’s sidewalk programs, potential options being considered to optimize the program and the development of a conceptual sidewalk masterplan.
ALTERNATIVES:
This is a briefing only, there are no alternatives to consider.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This is a briefing only, there is no fiscal impact associated with this presentation.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a briefing only, no council action is required.