may receive bus transportation and which are expected to walk, depending upon the street they live on, for each of the schools. Although not as developed as a “Safe Routes to School” program, the School Walks program presents an excellent starting point that can be expanded into one with community support and involvement. The following table and graph show an estimate of the lengths of sidewalk of each condition type described in the “Upkeep Examples” document and their corresponding percentage. “Mixed” is a segment that contains portions of different materials along its length, rather than being a single material. Amount of Sidewalk by Material and Condition for Major & Collector Streets Good (3) Fair (2) Poor (1) Very Poor (0) Concrete Linear Feet 216,522 (47%) 68,715 (15%) 23,070 (5%) 2,615 (0%) Asphalt or “Mixed” Linear Feet 30,922 (7%) 73,568 (16%) 42,009 (9%) 3,349 (1%) This graph shows us that the concrete segments are retaining a decent condition while the asphalt sections have become more significantly worn. For comparison, the following table and graph represent the same information within “activity centers”. Activity centers are select locations deemed important to pedestrians (Schools, Civic Buildings, etc.) with a 2,000 foot radius surrounding them. They are discussed in the report’s “Walking Districts/Activity Centers” section (pg.11) in more detail. Amount of Sidewalk by Material and Condition in Activity Centers (2000ft radius) Good (3) Fair (2) Poor (1) Very Poor (0) Concrete Linear Feet 169,920 (49%) 49,361 (14%) 18,845 (5%) 2,458 (1%) Asphalt or “Mixed” Linear Feet 26,372 (8%) 46,360 (14%) 28,776 (8%) 2,169 (1%)
Manchester: Manchester has instituted a city-wide sidewalk plan that governs and coordinates sidewalk projects. The project was first published in 2004 and then revised in 2009. The project outlines a table of sidewalk standards and a strategy for prioritizing and organizing streetscape projects. The plan features a map detailing planned projects for the coming years of adding or removing sidewalks, the existing network and “Neighborhoods for Proposed Sidewalk Removal Projects.” This has influenced our strategy in guiding development of a Proposed Sidewalk Plan Map (Fig. 2). Cheshire: Cheshire has fewer sidewalks in comparison to Meriden and therefore, has no citywide strategy implemented. Cheshire is instead focused around individual streetscape projects. We have found that this is typical of many suburban and rural towns, especially ones without a strongly defined downtown or core. Cheshire also typically focuses on a district scale for their sidewalk projects. This is somewhat similar to our proposed use of Activity Centers to prioritize and focus the scope of work. Meriden can be described as Suburban with Shades of The Downtown core is well defined and relatively developed representing the “shades of urban” while the outer districts generally represent the “suburban” category. Meriden’s density is close to that of Manchester, although Meriden’s per capita is less than Manchester or New Haven’s. To best serve the needs of a high density and low per capita community, a strategy should attempt to strike a balance of reducing surplus sidewalk to cut costs while maintaining accessible and safe routes to destinations within the network. Single sided walkways implemented in lower density areas would help to directly achieve this goal. The budget discussed above of $300,000 dollars provides the City’s current budget. The report disregards CDGB funding as a viable source of funding for the proposed sidewalk strategy because the amount awarded varies annually and is difficult to determine accurately in advance.
Type of Street Material Sides of St SW width Typical Major and Collector Streets Concrete 2 5 on SW map. Major and Collector Streets Concrete 1 5 Shown on SW map. Streets located in exterior parts of the City that are or should be part of the sidewalk network but do not have sig. Commercial retail or MF res. development existing/allowed. A side of the street for SW should be identified in inventory of Major/Collector St. sidewalks SW when development occurs Typical Local Streets (Medium to High Density areas) Concrete 2 4 Low Density Local Streets (areas with sig. existing concrete SW). Concrete 1 4 A side of the street for SW should be identified in inventory of Local St. SW when development occurs Low Density Local Streets (areas without sig. existing concrete SW) Bituminous 1 4 Replacement/new extensions of bit. SW should require street be added to an inventory of Local St. SW with side of street and material ID'd Local Industrial Streets N/A 0 N/A Streets generally located in exterior parts of the City with Industrial uses/zoning with no sig. Commercial retail or MF res. development where SW should not be required for any non-res dev. or reuse