Where the Sidewalk Ends

In a City That Prides Itself on Walkability, Sidewalks Are Not a Given

Thanks to an urban forest estimated at 41,000 trees, Coral Gables claims the largest canopy coverage of any city in South Florida, a natural umbrella that provides welcome shade and beauty. Due largely to those trees, the city has three miles of cracked, uneven, root-raised sidewalks. The price tag to fix them: $3.4 million.

The city also has 79 miles of streets with no sidewalks at all, including major thoroughfares such as Blue Road, where walkers and joggers are forced into the roadway to compete for space with cars and trucks. The price tag to install them: at least $26 million.

“It’s interesting,” says Commissioner Kirk Menendez. “We call ourselves a walkable city. In reality, we are walkable in certain parts of the city. And walking in the middle of the street doesn’t make us a walkable city.”

The issue of sidewalks has recently become a front burner topic in the Gables, the focus of a February commission meeting and a March community meeting where residents and city officials expressed dismay over the dearth of walkways and the condition of existing paths.

“I’m tired of seeing the elderly, the disabled, people with strollers, have to go into the middle of the street,” said Mayor Vince Lago. “That’s not acceptable.”

To deal with a steady stream of complaints about the damage that trees cause to pavement, as well as to sewers, drainage systems, and utility lines, engineers at the Public Works Department have come up with new construction techniques. These include designing sidewalks that curve around trees and concrete reinforced with fiber mesh and compacted structural soil — a mix of crushed stone and organic material — that allows tree roots to grow through it without lifting the walkway.

These techniques of sidewalk construction will face a critical test this summer when work is scheduled to begin along several blocks of University Drive between Bird and Blue Roads. At a projected cost of $750,000, the city will lay sidewalks on both sides of the street, relocate some trees, and install a drainage system, according to Senior Transportation Engineer Melissa De Zayas.

Of course, the concrete sidewalks will be tinted, as required by city ordinance, in a color known as Coral Gables Beige. And since the University is a vital connector street — a main thoroughfare through local streets — the city will pick up the tab; residents will not be assessed. Next up, says De Zayas, are sidewalks for Blue Road and for Alhambra Circle between San Rafael Avenue and the narrow bridge over the Gables Waterway.

“There are some blocks where the sidewalk just ends before reaching the other end of the block,” says Menendez. “I think we need to make sure someone is not walking on the sidewalk and it just stops. We should complete the work.”

The peril of walking in the street is one of the factors that propelled Debbie Swain to lobby hard for the University Drive sidewalks in front of her home. Swain, chair of Bike Walk Coral Gables and a former member of the Transportation Advisory Board, says she has twice survived near-misses with cars on University Drive while hiking to the University of Miami campus.

“The public rights of way need to be safe for all users,” she says. “I’d love to see more sidewalks in the city before I’m in a wheelchair and need them.”

Also hazardous is walking on fractured sidewalks that are trip-and-fall magnets. The city does get sued for injuries blamed on sidewalks in poor condition, and it has made recent settlements, according to city attorney Cristina Suarez. “Yes, there are pending lawsuits alleging injuries purportedly suffered due to uneven or broken sidewalks,” she said in an emailed response to a query. She said she did not have readily available information on the cost of recent settlements.

Swain urges the city to be more aggressive in pursuing grants to finance sidewalks. “The city has not been applying for those,” she said. “There is a massive amount of money out there.”

But not all residents who live on un-sidewalked streets want pavement in front of their homes. Opponents cite concerns that trees will be harmed, or that sidewalks will attract walkers from other neighborhoods. “People don’t like change,” Swain said.

Another factor is cost. If the city installs sidewalks in so-called connector streets, there is no cost to residents. If residents request sidewalks in front of their homes, they have to pick up 50 percent of the price tag, which they must pay for with installments over a five-year period.

Mayor Vince Lago has heard the arguments against new sidewalks for years. “We have neighbors oppose each other on whether they want a sidewalk or not,” says Lago. “But on main thoroughfares, they have to be completed. We have to deliver on [those] sidewalks.”