2009 Curb and Sidewalk Repairs Program
Resurfacing Curb & Sidewalk Evaluation Procedure
Curb and sidewalk repair projects are generally selected on one main factor, the Present Serviceability Rating (PSR). The PSR is a measure of the sidewalk condition. The range of PSR ratings is from 0-5. In general, 0 is totally deteriorated sidewalks whereas 5 is brand new. In Indianapolis we are typically trying to address only the 0-2 PSRs.
As in pavement selections, there are also other factors that weigh into the project selection criteria for sidewalks. A listing of the other main factors are listed below:
Focusing the location selections on high pedestrian areas (ie. hospitals, churches, schools, public facilities) and on our thoroughfares. More 'bang for your buck' is achieved with this strategy because of the comparison between the investment level and the high number of pedestrian users.
ADA ramps (ADA sidewalks, IndyGo bus connectivity).
Attempting to balance the project workload across the need area (ie. neighborhood groups) is also a factor as is across City-County Council Districts.
Economic development commitments or other type commitments made.
With sidewalks, DPW has adopted a general guideline policy that new sidewalks will not be constructed where none exist today except under unique circumstances or as a part of a major capital improvement project (ie. added travel lanes or pavement rehabilitation). The rationale behind this is that if we cannot keep up even marginally with needed sidewalk repair, then increasing our inventory does not seem a prudent strategy.
We have traditionally programmed about 2 to 3 million dollars a year to this annual program. In addition our resurfacing and other transportation Capital Improvement Program(CIP) projects spend about 2 to 3 million dollars a year on curbs and sidewalks. This translates to about 6 miles of curb and sidewalk reconstruction each year. We currently have about 25 million dollars of curb and sidewalk requests that we have field investigated and inventoried due to citizen complaints or our staff's field observations. This inventory is in addition to our 2004 curb and sidewalk program that is currently underway.
Because the need for both of these programs far exceeds our ability to fund them the street selection process is very difficult. We have asked neighborhood groups to assist us in this selection process by providing to us a neighborhood priority list of street segments. During the selection process we can allocate our limited funding to address the neighborhood's highest need. Sometimes due to limited funding we need to break up a street into multiple segments that we can address over a several year period of time to complete.