Thread by @OakDOT

Broken Sidewalks & One Department’s Plan to Fix Them, A Thread: /1

Everyone knows that broken sidewalks are a problem. They keep people from getting where they need to go, and they make our neighborhoods sad. /2

Worse, broken sidewalks can lead to people tripping and falling, which can lead to preventable injuries, as well as expensive claims and lawsuits against the City of Oakland AND private property owners! /3

But what a lot of Oaklanders don’t know is that under state law, homeowners and landlords are on the hook to fix most broken sidewalks in front of their property (unless a City tree caused the damage). /4

In fact, we estimate that about 85% of the broken sidewalks in Oakland are the responsibility of private property owners to fix. About 15% of damage is at City facilities or is caused by official City trees. /5

When someone is injured on a sidewalk, it’s costly for everyone: the person who gets hurt, the person who owns the sidewalk, and, often, the City. This chart shows a rolling average of the settlements that the City has paid out every year for trip-and-fall claims. /6

Turns out the majority of the time the City historically paid out for trip-and-fall claims, it was related to damage that a private property owner should have fixed! Many other CA cities have ordinances that help protect the city from liability—more on that later. /7

So how does any sidewalk get fixed in Oakland? Here’s a quick flow chart! When we receive reports of damage, we evaluate whether the damage is private or City responsibility. If City, it gets queued with our crews. If private, we send a notice to the owner. /8

But these notices are can be a bit scary—they require property owners to fix their sidewalks within a short period of time or face fees. So instead we've focused on how can we get more sidewalks fixed in Oakland without sending out more notices. /9

Here’s our first idea, which the City Council adopted on July 9: Any time you buy or sell property in Oakland, you need to make sure the sidewalk is fixed first. /10

Why do we think this will increase repairs? We looked at a similar ordinance adopted in 2011 related to private sewer laterals. Permits for repairs tripled! If the same holds for sidewalk permits, we could see a tripling of sidewalk repair permits from this ordinance alone. /11

Our next idea: when we repave streets, we already bring a concrete crew to improve curb ramps. Why not offer to repair property owners’ sidewalks at the same time for reimbursement? /12

Here is an example of a paving project that combined our City-funded curb ramp improvement with a private-owner-funded sidewalk repair AND with street paving. Everything fixed at once! /13

Last year we piloted sidewalk repair coordination on 1mi of paving. Through that we facilitated ~4000 sq ft of reimbursable repairs on private property. This year we hope to coordinate on 10mi of paving, which could potentially return around 36,000 sq ft of sidewalk repairs! /14

We think the benefits of safer sidewalks and reduced property owner liability are even more important for low-income property owners. So we also developed a program that will provide repairs at no cost to low-income property owners. /15

To further sweeten the deal and encourage even more Oaklanders to get their sidewalks repaired, we proposed—and Council approved—a summer permit discount! Through Sept 30, all fees related to sidewalk repair permits are waived. /16

This limited-time program will save Oaklanders $400 or more on fees associated with sidewalk repair permits! More info on getting a repair permit here: oaklandca.gov/services/curb-… /17

Finally, following in the footsteps of practically all of our neighbors, City Council adopted an update to the Oakland Municipal Code that helps reduce City liability for injuries as a result of PRIVATE damage. /18

We’re thrilled that our Oakland City Council has supported these major policy changes and programs. By our rough calculations, we think we could see more than 120,000 sq ft of fresh & new, safer & smoother sidewalks all over Oakland. /19

What's next? If you’re a property owner, look out the window! Does your sidewalk have cracks or offsets of more than ¼ inch? If so, consider getting your sidewalk repaired this summer. We’ve compiled some info about hiring a contractor here: oaklandca.gov/resources/hiri… /20

And, if you rent, let your landlord know about our summer discount program! They may not be aware of their liability, so help us spread the word and get sidewalks fixed all over Oakland: oaklandca.gov/sidewalks Thanks for reading! /end