Sidewalks plan short on details

The News Virginian / News Virginian
Published: October 21, 2007

The case for spending city money on adding or extending sidewalks, at first glance, seems clear enough. Children who walk to Westwood Hills Elementary School along Rosser Avenue, for example, must cross a busy street. Sidewalks in the area end a block away from the school. Something obviously needs to be done.

In addition, sidewalks are needed downtown and along Lew Dewitt Boulevard in the bustling west end, according to city studies. All of the sidewalk work combined would cost $1.2 million. Whether to spend that money will be one of the questions on the non-binding referendum voters will consider Nov. 6.

We support the sidewalk work in concept, but are not willing to give a nod of approval to the spending question on the fall ballot. The money would be stretched over five years, but as we told readers in our reporting Friday, the city has not projected how many miles of sidewalk it might add, nor is it clear precisely how all of the money would be spent. "It's hard to say it'll all be sidewalks," City Planner Jim Shaw said.

Want of specifics is not a new problem in city hall. Business leaders gave us a telling example earlier this year when they asked how they would benefit from paying the lion's share of stormwater fees for the new stormwater management division. The question appeared logical enough, but city officials were stumped. Business leaders were justifiably chagrined; they have every right to know what they would get for their money.

Similar thinking applies to the city's sidewalk program. Some of our city council members seem to oppose any idea that involves spending money. We do not subscribe to such a view. But we do believe prudent spending is the duty of any elected official. Asking for money without a specific plan for its use does not meet that responsibility.

Certainly, sidewalks around schools ought to be viewed as a necessity. We urge the city to move now on a Westwood Hills sidewalk project. That work should have been done yesterday.

If city officials could provide us a plan with details as concrete as the sidewalks themselves, we likely would back it, provided the standard of prudent spending was met. The city having failed to meet those conditions, we are compelled to reject the request for sidewalk money.

Further, regarding downtown, a far more glaring need has yet to be sufficiently addressed - finding a way to lure people there. Until the city revitalizes its downtown core, sidewalks will remain of secondary concern. After all, our walks could be paved with gold, but it would matter little if they remain surrounded only by the steady decay of a once-vibrant district.