I ask you to set aside $500K, less than 1% of the Street’s Department Budget, to support the city’s sidewalks. Among other things, this funding would be used to hire a sidewalk coordinator for the City who will create a repair and replace strategy that works for residents in every neighborhood. Philadelphia’s sidewalks have been ignored for almost 20 years, and more than 230 miles of sidewalk are in poor or very poor condition as a result. Sidewalks are a lifeline for pedestrians who rely on them to access education, jobs, services, public transportation, and health care. In 2021, 42 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in Philadelphia. One pedestrian life cut short is too many, and sidewalks in good condition can help save lives.
This funding will support the essential service that sidewalks provide in all Philadelphian’s lives. This money will allow the City to:
Hire a sidewalks coordinator
Launch an ADA transition plan or sidewalks master plan process
Establish sidewalk repair standards
Analyze 311 data on “dangerous sidewalks”
Launch an education and outreach campaign
Leverage existing programs
Develop a strategy for capitalizing on federal funding
With more than $5B in Federal funding programs available to cities and counties to advance walking and bicycling through the Infrastructure Law, now is the time to act! Philadelphia must hire a sidewalk coordinator to create a master plan process, establish sidewalk repair standards, and develop a strategy for seeking and spending the federal funding that will be available.
Philadelphia has an entire city department dedicated to paving and maintaining streets where people drive, but zero resources dedicated to maintaining the places people walk. It is time to finally take action to support sidewalks.
