City faces budget challenges with sidewalk plans

Homewood City Council is assessing the feasibility of sidewalk projects on Mecca Avenue and Rumson Road. However, there might not be enough money in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Budget to complete both.

The current budget appropriates $400,000 to city sidewalk projects, but $50,000 is earmarked for sidewalks repairs near Edgewood Elementary School. The remaining $350,000 is slated for projects on Roseland Drive and South Forest Drive, and what’s left after those could be used on Mecca Avenue and Rumson Road.

“We’re talking about spending money we don’t have,” Council President Bruce Limbaugh said.

Mecca Avenue

Mecca Avenue is almost entirely a one-way street, and many children walk it every day to get to Homewood Middle School. The proposed plan is to add 950 feet of sidewalks at a cost of approximately $58,000.

The sidewalks would be built into the existing street rather than onto the property on either side. This would slow down local traffic and be more cost-effective because the city would not have to build retaining walls or purchase rights-of-way access for surrounding properties.

The proposed plan would narrow the street from 24 feet wide to 20 feet. The city would create sidewalks using this space and about a foot of the existing curb line. Residents favored the idea of sidewalks, but they acknowledged a smaller road would affect many homeowners who park in the street.

“There’s lots of kids walking in the morning and in the afternoon, and the cars speed by pretty quickly trying to make the school bell. So I think it’s a great idea and it adds to property values,” Mecca resident Drew Galloway said. “Even if they had to go into the easement and it affected my yard, I’d still be for it.”

Mecca Avenue sidewalks are a high priority for the council because of the road’s connection to the middle school. To reduce costs, council members considered spreading the project over several years. They also suggested paving a shorter section on Mecca or making the street into a cul-de-sac instead of building sidewalks. While this option might be less expensive and would reduce traffic speed, it would also make it more difficult for some parents to get their children to the middle school.

“We could kill two birds with one stone if we do this right. We could solve a safety problem, a traffic problem, [and] a crime problem,” council member Britt Thames said.

Rumson Road

Many children also play or walk to school on Rumson Road, and a hill on the street near Windsor Drive has created visibility problems and several complaints about safety and speeding cars. The council would like to see sidewalks stretch from Windsor Drive to Shades Valley YMCA.

Putting sidewalks on this stretch would cost between $260,000 and $280,000, partly because the section from Windsor Drive to Yorkshire Drive would cut into homeowners’ properties, requiring right-of-way acquisitions and other expenses. Although residents agreed that Rumson needed sidewalks, some were opposed to giving up yard space to them.

“I don’t have any room for them to build a sidewalk on this side,” said Rumson resident P.J. Elrod. “[But] I think they’re nice because they’re safer than being in the street, and there’s a lot of people who walk, run and ride bikes up and down this street.”

Several cost-saving alternatives were proposed for Rumson. One solution was to create “curb islands” in the middle of the street, which would cut up to $80,000 from the project budget and wouldn’t affect residents’ yards. However, these islands wouldn’t be as safe as traditional sidewalks since residents and children would still cross the street to access them.

The council also considered painting a temporary pedestrian and bike lane onto the street but decided this would not be any safer than the islands. The most favored proposal was to put sidewalks only in the most dangerous section, from Windsor to Yorkshire and save the rest of the project for future years.

“The sidewalks are something that citizens want us to do,” Limbaugh said. “Yes, there’s a finite amount of money; we get that. But if the word ‘safety’ is involved and we’re saying no, we need to look in the mirror.”

Council members will make a final decision at the next council work session on Monday, Nov. 25 at 4:30 p.m. in Rosewood Hall. For more information, call the Department of Building Inspections at 332-6833.