Throughout the High Point 2045 process residents stated that having the option to walk to a neighborhood park or to a friend’s home a few streets away or to a store or restaurant down the street is important to them. For many of these residents it is an option because they also own or have access to a vehicle. However, according to the 2022 American Community Survey (ACS), approximately 3,000 or 7 percent of all households in High Point do not have access to a vehicle. For many of these residents it is not an option. Sidewalks are essential in meeting their daily needs whether it is to walk to the grocery store or to an appointment or to safely access the transit system to take them where they need to go. Many neighborhoods built within the last several decades include sidewalks on at least one side of the street. These tend to be in good condition. Many older neighborhoods, especially those within the core neighborhoods area, also include sidewalks but they are in poor condition and need to be replaced.

The city should create a line item in the General Fund to fully monetize this sidewalk installation and replacement program.

Developing and maintaining a comprehensive sidewalk network has been recommended in several recent city planning initiatives including the 2017 Pedestrian Plan, 2017 Downtown Multi-modal Vision Plan, and the 2019 Complete Street Manual.

These plans should be used as guiding documents.

The comprehensive sidewalk installation and replacement program should include the following components:

• Prepare a citywide inventory of the existing sidewalk network with a conditions assessment and identified gaps within the network

• Develop a system that scores and prioritizes sidewalk replacement and installations (separately) with consideration given to:
  • Households without access to a vehicle and other socioeconomic characteristics (See Equity Analysis in the High Point Pedestrian Plan)
  • Proximity to transit stops
  • Funding sources (e.g. CDBG, etc.)
  • Proximity to the greenway system, parks and recreation facilities, job centers and other demand categories (See Pedestrian Demand Analysis in the High Point Pedestrian Plan)

• Utilize other tools to further develop a comprehensive sidewalk network including but not limited to:
  • Require sidewalks along both side of the streets for all new developments or redevelopments
    • A unified circulation system should be developed for multi-building developments - between buildings, parking lots, connections to adjacent lots and public sidewalk network

• • Develop a sidewalk fund and a fee-in-lieu program
    • Include criteria for evaluating a payment in lieu of construction request by the Director of Transportation
    • The sidewalk fund should be structured to fund new sidewalks on the priority list (as described above) anywhere in the city