Southlake taking steps in completing sidewalk network

The City of Southlake has completed 11 miles of sidewalk since 2009, and it is not done yet.

Public Works Director Bob Price presented City Council with a review of the work done so far and some of the challenges the city has met in its goal to connect the city for pedestrians.

“A safe, seamless and continuous sidewalk is a top priority for the residents of Southlake,” Price said. “They want us to continue building a collection of pathways that, together, create a system that allows connectivity and mobility throughout the city.”

The pedestrian amenity has been one of the top requests by residents in the citizen survey.

The city recently completed work on North White Chapel Boulevard connecting a school to nearby neighborhoods, Zena Rucker Road, and Kimball Road, which has been under construction for several years.

Price highlighted several planned sidewalk projects that have hit road bumps, including work on N. Peytonville Avenue, S. Peytonville Avenue, N. Carroll Avenue, S. Carroll Avenue, Ridgecrest Drive and others.

For some of the situations, the city needs to acquire space to build sidewalks and drainage improvements.

“We're getting to a point where we’re challenged by having more objections to completing some of these segments,” Price said. “The low-hanging fruit has pretty much been accomplished.”

Speaking of real cost to complete the city’s sidewalk network as outlined in its master plan, Price said the Council will need to make a decision in the future.

He said the city has about $1 million in funding to complete sidewalks, and does not plan to ask for more in the upcoming budget because any potential sidewalk funds could be used for other priorities in the city.

“How far is the City Council willing to go to continue building the network that we’ve outlined in our city’s master plan?,” he asked the Council. “If you want to continue moving forward with Phase 2 what resources are we willing to commit to securing the necessary real estate rights?”

This story was originally published March 31, 2015 at 9:21 AM with the headline "Southlake taking steps in completing sidewalk network."