CLEVELAND — James “Jim” Friedl is losing hope in the City of Cleveland after he says he paid $780 for his cracked sidewalk to be replaced a year ago and has yet to see any repairs.
Friedl told News 5 he signed up for the City of Cleveland 50/50 Sidewalk Residential Replacement Program in 2023 after a semi-truck drove through his neighborhood and cracked the sidewalk in front of his home a year prior.
According to the City of Cleveland’s website, the 50/50 sidewalk repair program was designed to encourage compliant sidewalks, aprons, and curbs. The city partners with residents and each pays 50% of the total cost to have the sidewalks repaired.
“I think it's safety and I just don't want to get in trouble by the city if I keep waiting for the sidewalks to get fixed,” said Friedl.
As News 5 previously reported in June 2023, the City of Cleveland said the delays were due to high costs.
“Unfortunately, the items associated with the 50/50 program were substantially higher than in previous years, which raised the price to a point that wouldn’t be affordable for the City and its residents, so we had to transition to our Division of Streets and Urban Forestry Section,” the city previously told News 5. “The increased workload required additional equipment to be purchased and additional personnel that needed to be hired – both of which have been completed. We have started working on all outstanding work orders.”
Good news for Friedl.
However, the program seemingly paused again because Friedl received a letter from the city in April.
The letter explained it would be “resuming” sidewalk repairs under the 50/50 program.
X marks were then painted on Friedl’s sidewalk, but he said no work has been done since then. He added he has tried reaching out to the city a handful of times for an update but continues to get the “run around.”
“I'm just getting tired of waiting... waiting for answers,” he said. “I don’t think it’s fair.”
Fast forward to July and another letter from the city to sidewalk repair program participants is sent out.
“In 2022, publicly bid contracts resulted in excessively high prices to perform repairs,” the letter states. “The city made the decision to perform the work with our in-house maintenance crews to ensure cost remained low for our residents. However, the demands of the division for routine maintenance services resulted in approximately 100 homes not being replaced at the end of last year.”
The City of Cleveland says to complete the repairs and reduce the backlog, it will rebid the repairs with the hope of selecting several small, local contractors.
The city expects to begin work in August, but does not have exact dates as of yet.
New markings will be placed on sidewalks, and program participants will be notified by letter before work begins, according to the city.
“We have been working diligently to establish a program that addresses the backlog of repairs, provides efficient service delivery and is more sustainable,” stated a City of Cleveland spokesperson.
The city told News 5 Friedl’s sidewalks have been assigned to the city’s Division of Streets.
“I just hope that the people that paid for the sidewalks from last year get more priority than to keep making them wait to get the sidewalks fixed,” stated Friedl.
News 5 is committed to following through on when the delayed sidewalk projects will resume once more.
Meanwhile, residents who are interested in applying for the program can call (216)-664-2182 to request an estimate, or they can find more information on the city Bureau of Sidewalks web page to see if they qualify for the program.
