Buckling sidewalks have been a thorn in Gilroy’s civic pride for
more than a decade. Root systems from street trees, ordered and
specified by the city, have slowly forced sidewalks upward over the
years.
Buckling sidewalks have been a thorn in Gilroy’s civic pride for more than a decade. Root systems from street trees, ordered and specified by the city, have slowly forced sidewalks upward over the years. Liquidambar trees have been the main culprit in the geologic-like thrust. The city’s response has been far slower than, say, the rocket speed with which it has built parks in the northwest quad.
The good news – and it is good news indeed – is that two City Council members and a third Council candidate appear ready to do something about it. “Appear” is a key word here, because there has been plenty of talk about fixing the sidewalks over the years and not much done about it.
That should end now.
The proposal isn’t refined yet and the devil may be in the details, but Councilmen Craig Gartman and Bob Dillon have been joined by candidate Dion Bracco in a preliminary endorsement for a bonding plan that will fix the sidewalks throughout the city. The price tag would be in the neighborhood of $6.5 million, but the problem would be at long last fixed.
The city made the mess by dictating the types of trees that could be planted and the city should clean the mess up. Once the sidewalks were fixed, the bonding plan would likely call for an ordinance that would transfer liability for the sidewalks to the homeowner. That seems to be a reasonable trade-off.
In the bond measure, however, the city should include the price for replacement trees and make certain that when the project is finished all city sidewalks are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Our community should be safe for senior residents to walk the streets without fear of falling, and it should be safely navigable for those in wheelchairs and walkers.
Moreover, those who walk our streets should be treated to beautiful tree-lined neighborhoods that provide shade and character.
The city has developed a much-improved list of acceptable street trees. It’s open for debate whether homeowners should pick their own trees or the city should come up with an overall street tree plan that makes sense.
That’s one of the details that needs to be ironed out.
At this point we’re counting on Dillon, Gartman and Bracco to push ahead with a concrete proposal to fix Gilroy’s sidewalks.
Solving the problem has been put off, shuffled around City Hall like a hockey puck and yakked about for more than a decade.
It’s time for a change. It’s time, not for words, but for deeds.
