Would You Support a San Angelo Sidewalk Ordinance?

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A proposed sidewalk ordinance is currently under consideration by the city of San Angelo.

• The City’s Comprehensive Plan, adopted by City Council as the guidance for future growth and development of the City, recommends exploring ways of making walking more convenient and safer, including updating development regulations and street standards regarding sidewalks.
• Under the City of San Angelo’s current ordinances, whether sidewalks are required for a development is decided on a case-by-case basis. Both developers and City staff agree that more clearly defining this would be helpful for everyone.

The city's website goes on to recommend the drafting of an ordinance should be supported.

I like to walk around the neighborhoods where I work and live and neither of them has sidewalks. Although it hasn't happened and I hope it doesn't, according to the city of San Angelo website, I have a greater chance of being struck by a vehicle in these neighborhoods.

Per the Federal Highway Administration:

• The currently recommended best practice is to “require sidewalks be included whenever a road is constructed or reconstructed in a public right-of-way in an urban area.”
• “Roadways without sidewalks are more than twice as likely to have pedestrian-related crashes as sites with sidewalks on both sides of the street.”

Another question for the implementation of a sidewalk ordinance would be the cost? And how would the ordinance be enforced? Would it only apply to new neighborhoods or would existing neighborhoods be required to put in sidewalks? How and who would pay for all of that?

We'd like to know your opinion on a sidewalk ordinance for the city of San Angelo. Tell us what you think on Facebook or on our station app.