Inside Look at Sidewalk Repair in Long Beach

With good weather I am able to re-launch my Shaping Up the 5th District walk program. Today I walked for about two hours, going door to door and talking with residents. I also got an opportunity to inspect first hand the extensive sidewalk, driveway and curb repair going on in the 5th District.

Remember, I started a program to consolidate these repairs by neighborhood instead of by what I call "politics." What I mean by that is historically a resident called a council office and complained of a sidewalk needing repair. A crew was dispatched to that address and then on to the next complaint. It didn't matter that the sidewalk next to the first caller needed repair or the one across the street. Because those two others did not call and complain, their sidewalks were not on a list.

So in addition to walking the 5th Council district alone and with residents, we took our inventory of a neighborhood to Public Works and have been able to group them together and coordinate tree trimming and street repair so that there is some infrastructure repair going on in some part of the 5th all year long.

Today, I got to see first hand the workers remove concrete, cut very large tree, roots, lay down a root barrier to prevent more roots and pour concrete.

If you notice markings on your sidewalk, that probably means you are in line for a repair. If there is a little blue marking in the corner, that means the sidewalk doesn't need to be replaced but can be fixed with sawcutting -- a technique I brought to Long Beach several years ago. Saw cutting saves the city a tremendous amount of money and it means that we are able to fix many more sidewalks so that trip hazards can be removed.

 The 5th District is receiving over $530,000 for sidewalk repairs which means we are able to complete several major sections of the council district. As soon as more funds are available, more sidewalks will be repaired. We have a list that goes beyond 2014 which is when I leave Council.