CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the 2020 and 2021 Annual New Sidewalk Program.
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Kelly Dunne, Project Engineer
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
On October 3, 2019, the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) recommended approval of the 2020 and 20201 Annual New Sidewalk Program, (Approved 7-0)
BACKGROUND:
The New Sidewalk Program was established in 2004 following the adoption of the Comprehensive Sidewalk Policy, a guiding document that defines the policies and programs for implementation of the pedestrian component of Naperville's Comprehensive Transportation Plan. The New Sidewalk Program annually installs new public sidewalk in locations that are lacking sidewalk along the roadway (sidewalk gaps). To date, the program has installed 13 miles of sidewalk in 111 gap locations.
Gap locations are prioritized using a scoring system that takes into account numerous factors such as roadway classification, proximity to schools, connectivity to the existing sidewalk network, presence of sidewalk on the opposite side of the roadway, and constructability. The highest scoring sidewalk gaps are selected as top candidate locations for construction. Each year, the proposed locations are reviewed by the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) and City Council for approval.
As the program progressed, its success started to become an obstacle. Nearly every top scoring gap location has been filled. Of the remaining gap locations, the original scoring criteria fails to distinguish top candidates because dozens of locations score equally. The scoring criteria originally created for the New Sidewalk Program was no longer able to effectively prioritize the remaining locations.
On August 1, 2019, staff presented a revised selection process to TAB for approval. To help differentiate non-arterial gap locations, a filter will be added to the process. During consideration of the 2018 New Sidewalk Pr...
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