Decatur’s commission recently approved a project budget of $50,000 for Georgia Safe Sidewalks of Lawrenceville to repair sidewalks throughout the city. The first stretch will be West Ponce De Leon Avenue from Nelson Ferry Road to Commerce Drive (east), work that should finish this year.
But the city currently has a list of sidewalks for repair over the next three to four years.
The work covers sidewalks with “trip hazards,” or panels popping up from a quarter inch to two inches. The cause typically is related to tree roots pushing up, or sidewalks settling in.
GSS cuts the irregularity with a saw, smoothing it out to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Those panels greater than two inches or with significant cracking need to be torn down and repaired and therefore are part of a separate project.
Assistant City Manager David Junger said the city still has a goal of placing a sidewalk on at least one side of every street. Neighborhoods can petition the city for new sidewalks.
In this initial project GSS has identified 254 trip hazards on Ponce, including 162 small hazards (1/4th to ½ inch), 77 medium hazards (5/8ths to 1 inch) and 15 large hazards (1 1/8th inches to 2 inches).
