Focusing only on Peabody sidewalks would come at a hefty price, director says

By Matthew K. Roy
Staff Writer

Tue, May 13 2008

—

PEABODY — Ignoring streets for one year and focusing on fixing the city's damaged sidewalks would be expensive and impractical, according to Public Services Director Dick Carnevale.

He estimated that it would cost in the range of $7.3 million to repair the roughly 93 miles of sidewalks in Peabody that need work. The cost is 10 times the amount of paving money the city receives each year from the state.

"Using these (state) funds for sidewalks would not have an appreciable impact on the overall repair status," Carnevale wrote in a memo to the City Council.

The council had asked Carnevale to provide it with the estimated cost of fixing all the city's sidewalks in need of repair. The council wanted the information to help it determine whether forgoing street maintenance for one year to exclusively tackle sidewalks was a feasible alternative.

Carnevale, a U.S. Army Reserve colonel, is away on military leave until April 7. His memo was included in the packet given to councilors in advance of their meeting tomorrow.

Carnevale wrote that state money should continue to be used to address potholes and "general road deterioration." Completing these "traditional paving projects" reduces city liability and improves overall safety conditions, he said in the memo.

Peabody has 155 miles of streets and 279 miles of sidewalks. (Eighty percent of streets have sidewalks on both sides.)

The city's new paving strategy — using in-house forces and redoing sidewalks in conjunction with street paving — has been effective in decreasing the backlog of streets needing repairs, according to Carnevale.

It has also increased the number of sidewalks repaired. In 2007, 490 sidewalk-related work orders were completed in Peabody. In 2004, 163 work orders were completed.

Councilor Barry Osborne last November requested the cost estimates from Carnevale. After Carnevale responded using figures dating back to 2000, Councilor Dave Gravel asked in January that he update the data.

Not having had an opportunity to review Carnevale's memo, Gravel declined to comment yesterday.

City sidewalks by the numbers

Total miles: 279

Miles that need repairs: 93

Fixes made last year: 490

Source: Public Services Director Dick Carnevale