Sidewalks are an integral part of any town or city, so much so that songs have been written about them. For instance, in the “Sidewalks of New York,” they run from “east side, west side, all around the town.” Or in the Christmas standard “Silver Bells,” city sidewalks are “busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style.”
Outside the city they exist to a smaller degree. In unincorporated Cobb, the sidewalk system is a patchwork of completed sidewalks between neighborhoods and unfinished sidewalks where gaps have existed for years.
Before 1980, developers were not encouraged to connect adjacent neighborhoods with sidewalks and this produced the gaps in most cases.
Someone who thinks about sidewalks more than most is road maintenance division manager Bill Shelton of the Cobb Department of Transportation. I doubt he’s penned a tune about sidewalks, but he does oversee a newly formed sidewalk construction crew that includes county employees and equipment. Prior to this, all county sidewalk work was contracted out.
The sidewalk crew began work Oct. 15, 2012, and includes four new county employees, a supervisor, mini-excavator, skid steer loader, dump truck with trailer, and a crew truck. The crew is busy addressing sidewalk gaps and other sidewalk needs in the county. Shelton expects another crew member will be on board by May 13.
While most sidewalk construction is still put out for bid, the sidewalk construction crew, consisting of these four crew members and the on-site supervisor, can build a sidewalk for around $110,000 per mile compared to $300,000 per mile with a contracted crew. Shelton calls it, “More sidewalks for less.”
To be sure, the work is limited to a certain number of years and less than 20 miles of new sidewalk when all is done. When authorization for the initiative runs out, county officials may evaluate the worthiness of the program, which is funded with the latest SPLOST.
Since October, the crew has bridged a 3,200 foot gap between Pisgah Road and Blair Bridge Road along South Gordon Road in Mableton. Recently completed was an 1,800 foot stretch bridging two sidewalks along Atlanta Road between Anderson Drive and Cooper Lake Drive near Smyrna.
Tim McAllister supervises the construction crew. He has over 18 years of experience in this kind of work. What has he noticed the most about completing these sidewalks? He says it’s the daily thanks he and his crew get from passersby.
The crew is currently on Little Road completing a gap between Little John and Lullingstone near southeast Marietta. This work also includes a curb and gutter for drainage control.
Cobb DOT meets each month on the topic of sidewalks. Shelton says there’s a formula for determining where the crew will install sidewalks, and it includes such things as proximity to schools and local requests.
If you see the crew out and about, give them a little thanks. Next, they’ll be working along Powers Road in east Cobb.
Craig Allen has lived in Cobb County for 10 years. Reach him at alle3257@bellsouth.net.
