Cookeville is upgrading deteriorated sidewalks on South Walnut Ave to meet ADA standards as part of a broader plan to improve walkability downtown.
Director of Public Works Mary Beth Elrod said the city is currently focusing on sections of South Walnut and Church Street to ensure all utility and concrete issues are resolved before repaving begins. Elrod said the department coordinates with water, sewer, and gas utilities to repair any known issues to maximize the lifespan of the new roadway.
“We definitely want to promote multimodal transportation,” Elrod said. “We want people to be able to not only drive, but then also pedestrians to walk and traverse the area in our downtown region, be able to visit local businesses, be patrons of those areas and not have any issues.”
Elrod said the city budgets for sidewalk upgrades annually but must prioritize areas with existing or upcoming projects due to the vast amount of aging infrastructure. Elrod said the city is obligated to report its progress on ADA compliance to a state entity every three to five years.
“We have about four to five men on a concrete crew that just does sidewalks in the city and concrete projects in the city,” Elrod said. “So it’s a never ending list. We add to it daily, but we are focusing on the downtown area and then we work our way out as we can.”
The city also requires private developers to install ADA-compliant sidewalks along all city road frontages as a condition of new development or redevelopment projects. Elrod said this requirement is a win-win for the city because it provides more options for pedestrians without requiring the use of public funds.
“We have limited funding, we only have one crew that does sidewalks throughout the city, but we do make it a priority when we come to a project or a section of sidewalk that has issues, if we’ve had a lot of complaints about it or there’s a project going on, we go ahead and repair that sidewalk and we do upgrade it to ADA requirements,” Elrod said.
As the city expands, Elrod said the city is constantly evaluating ways to increase walkability for pedestrians, but that maintaining current infrastructure is a tall task.
Elrod said the Public Works Department works with the police department and the safety division to identify trip hazards and areas with high foot traffic that require immediate attention. Elrod said recent improvements have already been completed on Cedar Street, North Jefferson Avenue and Spring Street.
“Gas prices are going up,” Elrod said. “We have plenty of businesses and and restaurants and places in our downtown area and all over the city that we would love for bike traffic, pedestrian traffic, any type of traffic to traverse to and just making it easier, safe and traversable for all kinds.”
Elrod said adding sidewalks to existing residential neighborhoods is often complicated by the need for public right of way and the management of stormwater drainage. Elrod said the city cannot install sidewalks on private property, and many projects require piping ditches and installing new drainage infrastructure before concrete can be poured.
