A sidewalk request can originate from an individual, elected official or an association.
No. The goal of the sidewalk implementation is to provide enhanced pedestrian safety by providing a safe space to walk. New residential construction projects must now include sidewalks. The Sidewalk Program is funded the to bring older communities in compliance with current safety standards and make Montgomery County neighborhoods more walkable. Community feedback allows us to understand concerns, provide alternatives where possible, and adjust the sidewalk proposal to best-meet community needs and preferences. However, the decision to install sidewalk is made considering the benefits, safety enhancement, and constructability as primary criteria. The County right-of-way adjacent to residential properties is intended for public use and benefit. Input from the community is used to mitigate concerns as much as possible.
To be fair and equitable in the priorization of the vast number of sidewalk installation requests received each year, a data-driven priority rating will be asissgned to all sidewalk requests. The priority rating will be generated based on GIS-location data evaluating the following factors:
During project selection each year, the requests with the highest priority ratings will be proposed for sidewalk installation.
The County Arborist will provide a tree report for information purposes only to pinpoint which trees will need special care to be preserved during sidewalk installation, if the sidewalks are ultimately approved. Each resident residing adjacent to a right of way tree that has been slated for removal or air excavation will have the following options:
All replacement trees are planted back into the County’s public right of way. The number of trees planted in the right of way from which the original tree was removed will depend on the resident’s species preference and the spatial requirements of that species. Any trees that do not fit back into the right of way from which the original tree was removed will be planted elsewhere under the Neighborhood Tree Planting Program. Residents may request that trees be planted in their neighborhood under the Neighborhood Tree Planting program by contacting Montgomery County’s 311. 311 can be reached by dialing 311 or 240-777-0311. https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mc311/ If the sidewalks are ultimately approved and constructed, a list of all tree removals will be provided to the County Arborist. The Arborist will visit each property on the list to discuss replacement tree species selection and placement. If the residents is not available when the Arborist calls, a postcard will be left with contact information so a mutually convenient meeting at the property can be scheduled.
The County’s Standard Tree lists, from which you may select your preferred replacement tree species, can be found at: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DOT-Highway/tree/ If there are power lines above the right of way, replacement trees must be selected from the Minor tree list. If there are no power lines above the right of way, replacement trees must be selected from the Major list. Property Owners may also request at any time a shade tree to be planted on their private property through the TreeMontgomery.org website: https://treemontgomery.org/request-a-tree/
Yes, residents are responsible for removing snow and ice on any sidewalk, other walkway on or adjacent to property that the person owns, leases, or manages, including any walkway in the public right-of- way, to provide a pathway wide enough for safe pedestrian and wheelchair use within 24 hours after the end of the precipitation that caused the condition. Residents may choose to wait to remove the snow and ice until after the road has been plowed so as not to duplicate efforts. See Montgomery County Code Section 49-17 Accumulation of snow and ice on property prohibited.
A program can be created through your community's homeowners' or civic association, in which able-bodied residents volunteer to assist their elderly or disabled neighbors with snow and ice removal. If you do not have an association but are interested in forming one, please visit Montgomery Planning's Homeowners and Civic Association Tools website below: https://montgomeryplanning.org/tools/gis-and-mapping/interactive-maps/hoaca-tools/
No. There are no assessments or costs to the property owner when a new sidewalk is installed. Further, sidewalks are statistically proven to raise property values due to the safety and connectivity the sidewalks bring to your community. The augmented value is benefit to you alone.
Sidewalks are typically constructed in one of two ways:
In some cases, the swale may need to be realigned or adjusted. If you have a concern regarding standing water or existing drainage issues along the proposed area, please inform the Sidewalk Program’s Construction Representative, Juan Berrios, so that reparations can be coordinated if the sidewalk is approved and constructed. A field meeting may be requested by emailing Mr. Berrios at: [email protected]
Past public testimony indicates that many residents do not walk or allow their children to walk in the community because of a lack of sidewalks. This is supported by the daily traffic surrounding nearby schools, as parents drive their children to and from school rather than allowing them to walk. A pedestrian count before sidewalk installation would not provide meaningful data since the facilities that allow people to safely walk are absent. Additionally, commissioning a study of the traffic speeds within the roadway would not impact a sidewalk project, as the threat of a car hitting a pedestrian at any speed is a concern. Speed bumps may be requested by emailing the Division of Traffic Engineering & Operations Division (DTEO) at: [email protected]
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that all sidewalks be installed at 5-feet-wide. To install a narrower sidewalk, a Federal waiver must be approved. The resident’s desire to have a narrower sidewalk is not an approved reason to waive the 5-foot-wide sidewalk.
All mailboxes are removed and reinstalled the same day as the sidewalk is constructed.
The Sidewalk Program is an ongoing Capital Improvement Project. Please visit the Office of Management & Budget’s website for current annual funding figures: https://apps.montgomerycountymd.gov/BASISCAPITAL/Common/Project.aspx?ID=P506747&CID=3&SCID=8
Repairs and maintenance of sidewalks are the responsibility of the Division of Highway Services. Residents may request sidewalk repair by contacting Montgomery County’s 311. 311 can be reached by dialing 311 or 240-777-0311 or the email below: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mc311/
The installation of curb and gutter must be requested and is typically installed to resolve drainage issues. You may request curb and gutter installation via Montgomery County’s 311 by dialing 311 or 240-777-0311. Please also feel free to peruse our Drainage Assistance website below: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dot-dte/drainage/index.html If adjustments to the existing curb and gutter are to be made with the potential sidewalk installation, such adjustments will be described in the Construction Impacts sent with the sidewalk proposal.
Submitting your request via the Sidewalk Program’s Request Map automatically queues it for an on-site field investigation, which determines the feasibility of installing the requested sidewalks under our program criteria and budget. All requests that pass the field investigation are moved into our proposal queue to await potential selection to have a sidewalk proposal generated and issued to the community. All requests are assigned a priority rating. At project selection time each year, the requests with the highest priority ratings will have a sidewalk proposal generated. All other requests in the proposal queue will remain there until they are among the highest rated and are selected for a proposal.
Our program receives a significant number of requests for sidewalk installation each year, far more than we can propose and install with our current resources. To be fair and equitable in the prioritization of the vast number of requests received each year, the priority rating is generated based on GIS-location data, evaluating the following factors:
During project selection each year, the requests with the highest priority ratings will have sidewalks proposed.
The Sidewalk Program was established to construct minor sidewalk projects to fill missing gaps in existing sidewalk networks. Due to the tremendously high volume of sidewalk requests received each year, the requests are prioritized based on constructability and budget. The requests that are found to have a very low constructability rating due to complications typically fall outside the scope of our program. Complications that result in a low constructability rating include locations designated as a Rustic Road, with inadequate right-of-way, in a Special Protection Area, in a municipality, with landscape grading, drainage, or utility issues, large amounts of trees that would need to be removed, and existing structures. A request is “out of scope” when constructability complications surpass the Sidewalk Program’s budget criteria.
The Sidewalk Program’s Hearing Waiver process is a great way for safety-conscious communities to obtain sidewalks without having to wait for the requested roadway to rise as a high-priority project. If 100% of the property owners residing adjacent to the potentially impacted public right-of-way sign a “hearing waiver” petition confirming their sidewalk installation agreement, upon verification of the petition, the project will be added to our construction schedule and installed. If you are interested in pursuing this process once your request moves into the Proposal Queue, please contact Lori Main at 240-777-7271 or [email protected]
Please visit the Department of Permitting Services website (DPS) and file a Property Complaint . A DPS inspector will evaluate the location and may issue a violation requiring the property owner to clear a path in the right-of-way.
Please feel free to email Planning Specialist, Lori Main, with any additional questions you may have.