The City of Two Rivers is taking a new look at how sidewalks are repaired.
The city council approved a professional services agreement with SafeStep LLC for sidewalk safety services last Monday (April 6th).
The proposed pilot program would be a new way for the city to manage its sidewalk replacement program, which City Engineer Matt Heckenlaible has been implementing due to a lack of resources.
He continues saying that road projects take priority over sidewalks.
However, this proposal would allow the city to fix portions of the sidewalk without removing the entire concrete panel.
“What they are going to do is on smaller defects,” he explained. “So, if the sidewalk is raised up a half inch, they will physically grind that lip out of the sidewalk and make it ADA compliant by making that taper one foot of height to twelve foot of difference or one inch to twelve inches.”
Heckenlaible says residents would normally have to pay up to $400 per sidewalk panel.
With the grinding method, it would cost about $20-$100 per joint repair.
The city would get up to $40,000 in repairs, and once they reach that number, work would stop.
The city could target areas on its northeast side, including the Riverview Drive area. SafeStep will first survey the area before grinding the sidewalk down.
Heckenlaible says he hopes at least a half-mile of sidewalk gets done, but he’d like a full 8.75 miles finished.
Once the project is complete, Two Rivers will receive a final report on saw-cut location repairs, including displacement measurements, addresses, and other notices.
