Funds Approved by City for Sidewalk Repairs in Forest Park

Last summer, members of the FPCA Historic Committee began noticing the use of asphalt to patch sidewalks. We decided to walk the historic district to determine the extent of asphalt patching. We concluded that asphalt patching was “used everywhere” and that it was not in keeping with the desire to maintain an aesthetically pleasing and historically accurate neighborhood. We shared our findings and recommendations in our Asphalt Sidewalk Report, dated December 2023.

Sidewalk improvements are not just a matter of aesthetics. We believe that safe and attractive sidewalks increase pedestrian activity in our neighborhood, leading to many benefits: increased activity improves our health, helps us meet our neighbors, and enhances our sense of community.

Earlier this year, during a meeting with the mayor to review our findings and urge timely replacement of “temporary” asphalt, we learned that parts of our neighborhood are not eligible for CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funds, which could be used for new sidewalks. We were promised some funding and asked to provide a few addresses, but before we could follow up, we learned of the Neighborhood Enhancement Fund. The FPCA voted to seek the resources needed through this program to improve our sidewalks. A condition of the application was that neighborhood councils and associations partner with a city department, so we contacted the Department of Public Works, which is responsible for (but has limited funding for) public sidewalks. The total fund to be distributed throughout the city was $3 million.

We quickly reviewed the many streets in our historic district and other neighborhood streets to identify not only asphalt patching but also sidewalks in need of repair or replacement due to being cracked, broken, or uneven. We identified 135 residences for sidewalk improvement and developed a proposal.

Beate Bolen made us aware of a permeable material that can be used around trees identified as being lifted or uneven due to tree roots. Therefore, our proposal included our desire to work with Alex Sherman, the City Forester, to ensure that sidewalks lifted by trees are properly repaired using permeable paving material.

Our proposal was approved, but the estimated cost in our proposal was significantly higher than the $218,016 approved. We do not yet know if this means we were too high in our estimate or if we will be asked to prioritize which sidewalks will be repaired or replaced. We await further information from DPW on this and a schedule for when the work will actually begin.

Note: The FPCA also submitted requests for adding trees and upgrading tree belts and pedestrian areas in Forest Park to the City of Springfield’s Neighborhood Economic Recovery Fund program in 2023 and learned this spring that $251,122.85 has been allocated. DPW Director Chris Cignoli has been invited to the next FPCA meeting to update us on how and when these funds are being used.