photo by: Rochelle Valverde

A person walks down the sidewalk on 14th Street on Feb. 3, 2022. The section of sidewalk pictured is part of the city's 2021 sidewalk improvement program.

The majority of Lawrence residents who responded to a city survey about sidewalk repair said the city should take full financial responsibility for repairs, adding more weight to discussions about potential changes to the city’s current cost-share program.

The Lawrence City Commission will receive the survey results as part of its meeting Tuesday. The city put out the survey in October to ask residents to weigh in on whether changes should be made to the city’s sidewalk repair program. In addition to asking about funding, the survey asked several other questions about the format of the program.

Specifically, the city asked respondents to rate on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, whether they were supportive of funding 100% of sidewalk repairs with existing city resources, rather than a new property tax, sales tax or the existing cost-share format. About 61% of respondents indicated that they either supported or strongly supported that option, and about 17% indicated they were opposed or strongly opposed. By contrast, about 28% of respondents indicated they supported or strongly supported the existing cost-share program, with about 48% indicating they were opposed or strongly opposed. The other funding methods — a new property tax, a new sales tax, or benefit districts that assess costs to properties by project area — all had little support.

The current program requires certain property owners to pay part of the costs to make repairs, and has been controversial with some residents, who say the city should treat sidewalks like other infrastructure and take full financial responsibility. The format of the current program has so far resulted in the city paying about 70% of repair costs, with the remainder being paid by property owners.

Under the current program, which began in 2019, the city inspects specific sidewalks within a certain area each year to identify tripping hazards. The city conducts an analysis to select sidewalks for inspection and repair based on pedestrian routes that prioritize destinations such as schools, parks and retail. Unless property owners arrange to make their own repairs, a city contractor will complete the repairs, and lower-income homeowners and those with more than one adjacent sidewalk, such as corner lots, can apply for financial assistance from the city. The city is financially responsible for damage that is the result of city street trees and city infrastructure, such as manholes, and also pays for contractor costs such as removals, grading and contractor mobilization.

City commissioners said in April that they were open to reconsidering the program and agreed to put out a survey to collect input from residents about whether they would like to see any changes to the program’s funding and format. The survey was open from Oct. 13 to Oct. 31, and 497 people responded, according to a city memo. The commission is not scheduled to take any action regarding the survey as part of Tuesday’s meeting, but commissioners could direct staff to put the issue on a future agenda for more discussion.

Some of the survey results are as follows, and responses to the survey’s multiple choice questions are included in the commission’s agenda, which is available on the city website, Lawrenceks.org. More than 300 people also provided additional comments about sidewalk repair and its funding, which are not included with the city memo.

On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) how much do you support using existing resources (requires cuts to other city programs/projects) to fund 100% of sidewalk repairs?

•1: 12.6%

•2: 4.3%

•3: 18.1%

•4: 14.8%

•5: 45.8%

•Don’t know: 2.8%

On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) how much do you support cost partnering between property owners with abutting/adjacent sidewalks and the city (existing program) to fund sidewalk repairs?

•1: 35.5%

•2: 12.8%

•3: 16.2%

•4: 12.0%

•5: 16.4%

•Don’t know: 3.7%

On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) how much do you support using a new property tax to fund sidewalk repairs?

•1: 51.3%

•2: 11.0%

•3: 13.4%

•4: 7.9%

•5: 11.8%

•Don’t know: 1.8%

On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) how much do you support using a new sales tax to fund sidewalk repairs?

•1: 51.5%

•2: 14.6%

•3: 11.6%

•4: 7.3%

•5: 9.9%

•Don’t know: 1.4%

On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest) how much do you support using Benefit Improvement District (property owner assessment by project area) to fund sidewalk repairs?

•1: 39.4%

•2: 9.9%

•3: 16.6%

•4: 10.5%

•5: 8.1%

•Don’t know: 11.0%

Current funding levels indicate it will take an additional eight years to complete sidewalk repairs as part of the Sidewalk Improvement Program. Do you think spending on sidewalk repairs should:

•Increase to speed up the repairs: 41.6%

•Stay about the same: 52.4%

•Decrease to lengthen the time it takes to do the repairs: 6.0%

How satisfied are you with the Sidewalk Improvement Program:

•Very dissatisfied: 15.6%

•Dissatisfied: 22.1%

•Neutral: 35.2%

•Satisfied: 14.2%

•Very satisfied: 4.5%

•Don’t know: 8.5%

In other business, the commission will:

• Receive a request to annex approximately 143.41 acres located at the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 59 and the South Lawrence Trafficway and refer the request to the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission for consideration and recommendation.

• Consider awarding Bid No. 22045 for the Lawrence Multimodal Transfer Center (the new bus station) to MCP Build Inc. and authorizing the city manager to execute the construction contract in the amount of $7.18 million.