City scraps sidewalk petitions, proposes data-drive approach to address equity issues

Joe McKenna and his neighbors decided several years ago that this stretch of their North Hills neighborhood needed a sidewalk.

"This road is dangerous because it’s a cut through." McKenna said, while out walking his dog. "A lot of kids were walking to the schools, in the street."

So they went through the city’s sidewalk petition programs, had 61% of neighbors sign on, and, with council approval and funding, it was put in recently.

"It's great when the kids walk to school in the morning," said McKenna. "It just keeps them off the street when cars are flying down here and weaving in and out."

But that petition program doesn’t exist anymore. It was shut down after an audit by the city found a disproportionate number of petitions filed from more prosperous areas with a higher percentage of residents who are white. That resulted in more new sidewalks being built in those communities and fewer street improvements in other areas, leaving them less walkable and more dangerous.

A citywide survey found walkability matters to everyone in Raleigh.

"The key finding was that folks want sidewalks all over the city," said Anne Conlon, the City of Raleigh Business Intelligence Supervisor for Transportation.

The survey with 444 online participants and more in-person as Conlon and other city employees went to neighborhoods they identified as places that had a great need for sidewalks but a low number of petitions filed. It also found that younger people, as well as renters or newer residents to Raleigh tend to more interested in having sidewalks in their communities. The biggest priority, the survey found - connecting communities to schools schools and having a safer routes for kids to get there.

McKenna echoes that.

"A lot of kids were walking through the street in all weather, and we needed it," he said.

To make sure every community’s voice is taken into consideration, the city has a new plan – a data-driven approach to identify, score and rank sidewalk projects.

"We’re looking comprehensively to identify the needs," Conlon said following a presentation to city council on Tuesday. "Then [we'd] look at inputs like where are bus stops, schools and parks, what’s the volume of vehicles, speeds and all those factors will influence the overall score."

In this new approach, there would be "two buckets," as Conlon explained to council -- one for major city streets and another for neighbors. With this approach, the roads would be compared to others like it rather than a smaller side street missing out on getting a sidewalk funded because a major road scored higher. Conlon feared tackling the process that way would result in all key connectors not getting funded. She suggested the city leaders allocate 70% of funding to major thoroughfares and 30% to neighborhood streets that lack sidewalks.

Conlon estimates it costs about $2 million for every mile of sidewalks the city wants to put in. Since 2017, the city has finished 23 miles of new sidewalk construction and currently 12 additional miles are funded and slated for completion.

Conlon says there are around 75 to 100 key connections around the city they’ve already identified that need sidewalks. She’s hopeful the new policy will increase safety and walkability for everyone around the city.

"It is important to our health and critical that people have access and a choice to walk," Conlon said. "It really just creates a more vibrant community."