CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA

PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA

Date: February 8, 2011

To: Planning Commission
From: Jim Tolbert, AICP
Re: Proposed Sidewalk Priorities

Background: In 1997 the Planning Commission and City Council approved a

Sidewalk Priority list from which to construct new sidewalks. The starting point for
this list was a compilation of numerous locations collected over time from unsolicited
citizen requests. Over the past 10 years, approximately one third of the 1997 list has
been constructed and support for the outdated remainder is limited.

Throughout last year, staff met with various stakeholder groups, the Planning
Commission, and City Council to review a new list of sidewalk priorities. This list has
been generated with the intent to provide safe accommodations and promote the
healthy habit of walking to school for our local youth.

As opposed to the previous list which essentially just ranked those sidewalks requested
through no process, staff is proposing a proactive approach. We suggest a set of
priority criteria be developed and these criteria should point to the sidewalks that are
most needed. The priority criteria developed and adjusted after public input are as
follows:
• Commercial and Residential Connections
• Connected Streets
• Functional Roadway Classification
• Low Income Areas
• Overlap of School Areas
• Park Access
• School Proximity
• Sidewalk exist on one side of the road
• Transit Stop Access

This process led to the list of twenty-five proposed projects that are shown in the table
below. These are proposed to be the first set of sidewalks built using the new process.

City Council Agenda Memo

RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 1 of 9
 SIDE SIDEWALK
OF ON OTHER FUNCTIONAL
STREET ROAD START END LENGTH SCHOOL DIST SIDE? CLASSIFICATION

1st St SE South St Garrett St 300 No L

St. Charles
250 EB Off Ramp South Ave Locust Ave 500 Burnley-Moran No PA

7th Street West 8th Street Page Street 300 No L

9 1/2 Street East E.Jefferson St. High Street 135 No L

Allen Dr North Willard Dr Moseley Dr 500 Jackson-VIA No L

Belleview Avenue SW #1304 River Rd 550 Burnley-Moran No L

Blenheim Avenue North Meridian St Castalia St 500 Clark No L

Briarcliff Ave North Rockcreek Rd 1412 880 Buford No L

Briarcliff Ave South Rockcreek Rd 1409 880 Buford No L

Cherry
Broad Avenue East #1524 Avenue 650 Johnson/Buford No L

Cabell Avenue NW Burnley Ave #823 450 Venable No L

Chancellor Street SW #167 Rugby Road 400 Venable No L

at telephone
East High Street East co 150 Yes PA
Forest Ridge (Forest Hills
Road East Briarcliff Ave Forest Hill 300 Park) No L
Carlton
Franklin Street West Market Street Avenue 365 No L

Harris Rd North 121 Harris Rd Moseley Dr 825 Jackson-VIA Yes C

Kenwood Ln North Concord Dr Galloway Dr 100 CHS No C

Meadowbrook
Heights NW #1609 #1713 840 Walker/CHS No C
Monticello
Meridian Street East Montrose Ave Ave 800 Clark No L
Monticello
Meridian Street West Montrose Ave Ave 650 Clark No L

Montrose Avenue North Rialto St Meridian St 450 Clark No L

City Council Agenda Memo

RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 2 of 9
 Monticello
Montrose Avenue South Monticello Ave Rd 450 Clark No L

Moore Street East Hazel Street Grace Street 350 Burnley-Moran No L

Shamrock Road East Thomas Dr Broad Ave 300 Johnson Yes C

Tarleton Drive SW Greenbrier Dr Banbury St 900 Greenbrier/CHS No L

Discussion: During last year’s work session review and discussion, the following
questions were posed:

How can low income areas be addressed? Following the work session, the map
of sidewalk priorities was compared to maps that designate the low to moderate
income areas of the City as defined by HUD. It was determined that twelve of
the twenty-five priorities will serve those in low to moderate income eligible
areas as well as within the school walking circles. The following locations fall
within the City’s eligible CDBG areas as shown on the following map:
• 7th Street from 8th Street o Page Street
• 9 ½ Street from E. Jefferson to High Street
• Blenheim Avenue from Meridian Street to Castalia Street
• Briarcliff Avenue from Rockcreek Road to #1412
• Cabell Avenue from Burnley Avenue to #823
• Chancellor Street from Rugby Road to #167
• Forest Ridge Road from Briarcliff Avenue to Forest Hill
• Franklin Street from Market Street to Carlton Avenue
• Meridian Street from Montrose Avenue to Monticello Avenue
• Montrose Avenue from Rialto Street to Meridian Street
• Montrose Avenue from Monticello Avenue to Monticello Road
• Moore Street from Hazel Street to Grace Street

City Council Agenda Memo

RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 3 of 9
 CDBG Eligible Neighborhoods

Sidewalks completed in recent years using CDBG funds include those in the
Ridge Street, Rose Hill, and the 10th & Page neighborhoods (these are shown on
the following map).
City Council Agenda Memo
RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 4 of 9
 Sidewalk Built in Past 10 Years in CDBG Neighborhoods

Have we considered sidewalk links between residential and commercial areas?

Yes, links are being provided. Proposed sidewalks in the Belmont area link to a
network that leads to downtown; Tarleton Drive sidewalk in Greenbrier links

City Council Agenda Memo

RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 5 of 9
 walkers to Rio Road; sidewalks in the Fry’s Spring area link pedestrians to the
University; Cabell Avenue and Chancellor Street sidewalks provide linkage to
the Corner, Belleview Avenue connects to River Road, 9 ½ Street connects to
downtown. The overall linkage from residential areas to commercial and
employment areas is good. The attached map shows the extent of these
sidewalks.

Existing Sidewalk in Areas of Employment & Commercial Areas

City Council Agenda Memo

RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 6 of 9
 Are we leveraging all available funds? Safe Route to school grants, developer
contributions, transportation capital funding, and general funds are all used to
construct sidewalks.

Is there any way to remedy how to include additional citizen requests in a

systematic way? One purpose in creating a new list is to limit it to the amount
that can be built within a 5 year period (in lieu of the 1997 list of 99 projects) so
that citizens can reasonably expect their next opportunity for adding new
projects. Interested persons could submit a request at any time during the 5-year
timeframe, the submittal to be kept in a file, and all then evaluated once the next
review cycle approaches.

Since this process started we have received a number of requests from the public.
These are shown in the table below as well as on the map of proposed sidewalks.
Using the criteria proposed, seven of the thirteen public submissions would rank in the
top 25 of the proposed sidewalks. Although some making the requests are quite
passionate, unless we want to revert back to the old system, we suggest the remaining
locations wait their turn for potential inclusion during the next priority cycle.

City Council Agenda Memo

RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 7 of 9
 Proposed Sidewalk Priorities

City Council Agenda Memo

RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 8 of 9
Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the proposed sidewalk priority
criteria.

Attachment: PowerPoint

City Council Agenda Memo

RE: New Sidewalk Priorities Page 9 of 9