Bellaire City Council voted, in the August 20 council meeting, to set a new standard for sidewalks at 5 feet wide.
While the new standard will apply to new sidewalks being built during street reconstruction and for new home construction, it may not apply when there are already 4 foot sidewalks on a street. The City Manager and staff will have discretion when building a new sidewalk to determine what width will be appropriate. Existing 4 foot sidewalks will not be affected by the change.
This new standard follows the standards set forth in the City of Houston and other area cities.
Council also voted to move forward with Group D Phase 1 and 2 of sidewalk construction and consider these phases at future council meetings. Phase 3 has been put on hold and any money allocated for sidewalks that is left over from Phase 1 and 2 will be diverted to streets and drainage.
Phase 1 includes the following streets:
Remove and replace or add new sidewalks to the following blocks:
- 4700 – 5000 Blocks of Braeburn Drive
- 4500 – 4600 Blocks of Holly Street
- 4600 Block of Laurel Street
- 4600 Block of Oleander Street
- 1000 Block of Pauline Avenue
- 5000 – 5100 Blocks of Pine Street
- 5300 Block of Pine Street
- 4500 Block of Teas Street
- 4800 – 4900 Blocks of Valerie Street
- 4500 Block of Verone Street
Phase 2 includes the following streets:
Remove and replace or add new sidewalks to the following blocks:
- 5200 Block of Willow Street
- 5200 Block of Laurel Street
- 5200 Block of Linden Street
- 4800-4900 Block of Cedar Street
- 4800-4900 Block of Spruce Street
- 5000-5200 Block of Locust Street
- 5100 Block of Huisache Street
- 4800-4900 of Chestnut Street
- 3rd Street from Bellaire to Jessamine
Wider is safer when we take our walking exercises.
I don’t know why there is such an uproar about sidewalks. I am glad we have them on our street. Most cities have them and as multiple engineers have said they don’t cause flooding.
I actually like having sidewalks but I’m not sure I see the need for 5 ft ones.
I wonder who thought it was a good idea to have sidewalks in some yards and not in others on the same street. There has been an attempt to fix this on some streets which is good and necessary. I hope adding 5 ft sidewalks when streets are reconstructed will be discretionary based on how big the lots are. Some lots are much smaller than others.