Where the Sidewalk Used to End

The long, dusty, bumpy wait is over. Pedestrians can now walk the length of Bird Avenue in Willow Glen on actual sidewalks.

Believe it or not, the City of San Jose actually maintains a “Sidewalk Gap Database” … and an 80-foot stretch of dirt on Bird Avenue south of Willow Street has been on it for a while — since at least 2006, when many residents made a concerted effort to fill the gap.

Three years — and countless emails and phone calls later — the sidewalk is complete. Kara Sjoblom-Bay celebrated it on the WGNA eList, and many other residents can share the credit, along with the local council member’s office.

View Where the Sidewalk Used to End in a larger map

As early as 2006, WG resident Mary Ellen Petrich wrote to the City seeking 80 feet of cement:

I’m concerned about the sidewalk gap at 1197 Bird Avenue south of Willow, so I’ve contacted the city of San Jose. It turns out that there is a Sidewalk Gap program, for sidewalks that were never put in.

If you want all the details, you can see my web page at:

http://www.make-do.org/Sidewalk/Index.htm

There is no sidewalk at 1197 Bird Avenue on the west side of Bird Avenue between Willow Street and Cristina Avenue, approximately 80 feet in length. … This house is close to many pedestrian destinations, and that sometimes the wet, muddy trail forces pedestrians out into the busy street.

The City estimated the home along this stretch of road is an early 1900’s era house, built long before modern building codes that require sidewalk construction.

Despite this success — and perhaps illustrated by the total elapsed time — current funding levels for the Sidewalk Gap program allow the City of San Jose to construct three to four sidewalk projects of up to about 250 feet in length annually. But the database contains more than 100 requests. Projects like this one can cost anywhere from $50,000 (for projects with few easement and right-of-way issues and simply sewer upgrades) up to $300,000.