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Sidewalk repairs coming soon to a neighborhood near you

By Dan Karpiel

The Surveyor

For those who use a wheelchair or walker, or families with children who ride in strollers, even just walking with your own two feet, it can be difficult to get around in some parts of downtown Berthoud; the town’s sidewalk system is and has been in a state of disrepair for some time now. Yet, according to town officials, fixes and improvements are right around the corner.

Town dministrator hris irk explained the town contracted with an engineering firm to complete a study of repairs and improvements that are needed all across town. The firm found that a total of around $13 million in repairs were needed.

According to Berthoud town code, sidewalks that are inaccessible or create a tripping or other safety hazard are the responsibility of the homeowner whose property abuts the sidewalk.

However, the town board voted to create a costsharing project with homeowners who can apply for the program and the town will cover half the cost of repairs. iven the most serious and pressing sidewalk problems are in the downtown area, Kirk said repairs in that area of town will receive priority. or the current fiscal year, the town has budgeted $450,000 for sidewalk repair projects and irk said the town plans to continue funding at that level, assuming the Board of Trustees is on board. We’re going to focus on downtown first, will make a lot of progress this year and we plan to budget $500,000 every year for as long as it takes, irk said. dditionally, irk explained that whenever the town embarks on a street repair project, such as recent ones in the neighborhood near Roberts Lake and along Fifth Street, the project also includes funds to cover necessary repairs for sidewalks in the project area. nytime we repave a road, we have a responsibility, not just a legal responsibility but a moral responsibility to go through and update the sidewalks adjacent to it,” irk explained. We will continue to budget funds for sidewalks by themselves and we will continue to budget funds for sidewalks every time we do road maintenance projects every year.

A further source of funding has also just come about. The town received approval through the olorado epartment of Transportation to receive a $300,000 grant from the department’s afe outes to chool program. We’re creating a backbone, that’s the way I like to describe it, that connects Bunyan Avenue to Ivy tockwell ... we will connect to that east-west backbone on Welch and that will connect all the way to Mary’s Farm across First Street and then up north all the way to Bunyan and Berthoud Elementary,” Kirk said of the plans for the grant money. We’re going to be building one consistent, accessible sidewalk path all the way from First Street coming across Indiana, up econd, down Welch heading west all the way down to eventh treet and improving the sidewalks along Seventh Street that go all the way up to unyan, s reported by the urveyor on March 25, the town board unanimously agreed to accept a bid from Mountain Constructors for $399,026 to complete the project , of that bid will be paid through the grant and the remaining $99,026 will be covered by the town. ig picture wise, irk said, The idea is that when we create that kind of a spine and then we can use the rest of our town funds to connect into it. What we’re doing is eliminating gaps in the existing sidewalk and then repairing sidewalk that is not suitable and building new accessible curb ramps at the corners.

The town’s current sidewalk repairs budget of , is in addition to the , grant. omeowners who have questions regarding the cost share program and encouraged to contact the Town of Berthoud at .