The four geographic areas of Ann Arbor where sidewalk repairs are happening this year.
City of Ann Arbor
City officials released maps this week showing the four geographic areas of Ann Arbor that will be the focus of the city's 2013 curb ramp and sidewalk repair project.
Inspectors will be walking up and down each and every sidewalk in the identified areas and marking slabs that need repair or replacement, city officials said.
This damaged sidewalk on Huron Street, a few blocks west of Main Street, is in an area where sidewalk repairs are happening this year.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Doan is the main contractor. Precision Concrete is handling the horizontal cutting of sidewalk slabs that have "vaulted" or "displaced" joints, essentially leveling out potential trip hazards.
"By horizontally cutting sidewalk that is in otherwise good condition, we can avoid its removal and replacement," said Nick Hutchinson, the city's interim project management unit manager.
Each time the city can fix a slab by trimming it, the city will save roughly $164 by not completely replacing it, Hutchinson said.
The council approved a $75,000 contingency in case change orders are needed to the contract with Doan, plus a $21,000 contingency for the contract with Precision Concrete. That pushes the total potential cost of this year's sidewalk repairs above $1 million.
The project, funded by the sidewalk repair millage approved by city voters in 2011, involves repairing damaged sidewalks in roughly one-fifth of the city. It doesn't include installing new sidewalks in areas where there are gaps in the sidewalk system.
Hutchinson noted this is the second year of a new five-year program designed to perform maintenance on the city's entire sidewalk system.
The first of the four areas where work will be done this year is the far northeast corner of the city, near Arbor Hills, north of Plymouth Road and west of US-23.
The second area includes neighborhoods north of Huron Street, all the way from the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks to the University of Michigan Health System, and extending north to the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, which are now owned by the state. Within that area is the full length of North Main Street from Huron north to the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks.
The third area starts from the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks and extends into neighborhoods just west of downtown, south of Miller Avenue and north of Liberty Street, going as far as Virginia Avenue in the southern portion of that area and as far as Revena Boulevard in the northern portion.
A foot imprint and a groove that appears to have been caused by a bike tire left this slab on Division Street damaged. It happens to be in an area where sidewalk repairs are happening this year.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Before the approval of the sidewalk millage, which costs the average homeowner a little more than $13 a year, individual property owners were responsible for repairing damaged sidewalks adjacent to their properties on their own. The new program spreads the costs across the city's entire tax base.
In 2012, the city replaced about 1,475 slabs of sidewalk through the new millage-funded program, while trimming an additional 6,380 slabs — at a total cost of $561,000.
The city also used its street and sidewalk repair millage last year to pay for 395 new sidewalk curb ramps at street corners.
This year's project includes the continued replacement of sidewalk curb ramps to meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The city remains under a consent decree stemming from a lawsuit brought by Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living to bring all corner curb ramps into ADA compliance on streets that were resurfaced or reconstructed between 1992 and 2004. The work must be done by 2018.
The center claimed in its August 2004 lawsuit that the city had failed to build curb ramps according to federal and state accessibility guidelines and standards.
The city released maps this week showing the specific locations that are getting curb ramp repairs this year. (Download the maps.)
This damaged sidewalk on Ann Street, across from the rear entrance to city hall, is in an area where sidewalk repairs are happening this year.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Vaulted sidewalk slabs will be cut in cases where the vertical displacement is greater than half an inch in height. Vertical displacements greater than an inch in height are considered too large for cutting and are generally planned to be removed and replaced with new sidewalk.
Council Member Chuck Warpehoski, D-5th Ward, joined his colleagues in supporting the curb ramp and sidewalk repair contracts this week, but he noted the city's curb ramp replacement program does nothing to improve intersections where there aren't existing curb cuts.
Warpehoski said making sure that existing ramps are fully accessible is important, but he'd like the city to find ways to make all intersections fully accessible.
"I was walking down West Washington today, looking at some of those sites that are slated for ramp replacement, and they've all got ramps there — it's an upgrade," he said. "I also crossed several places where there were no curb cuts, and I was pushing a double-stroller at the time, and the lack of curb cuts, what that means even for people who are currently able-bodied, was very clear to me."
Council Member Mike Anglin, D-5th Ward, recalled the city settled a lawsuit a few years ago with a woman in his neighborhood who fell and broke her knee on a city sidewalk. Anglin said he's told that the sidewalk where she fell still hasn't been repaired after three years.
"I think anytime we have a lawsuit on any piece of property, fix it immediately," he said. "Get out there and do it and get it done — even if someone falls and it might be their fault."
Anglin added: "People just don't fall in the street because they like falling down."
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.