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Printed from: http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/publicworks/engineering/manuals/sidewalk/home.cfm on 11/22/2009
Sidewalk Program Overview
 
The Hillsborough County Public Works Department developed and published the Sidewalk Program Handbook, which was approved by the Board of County Commissioners. The purpose of the handbook is to inform the public of the various ways sidewalks are constructed in Hillsborough County. The handbook may be viewed at Sidewalk Program Handbook ( PDF, 1534KB ) .
Sidewalk Master Plan for Unincorporated Areas Priority Ranking List
 
The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) authorized County Staff to develop a Sidewalk Master Plan. This plan contains two County-wide project candidate lists which objectively prioritized candidate projects, giving the highest priority to segments in close proximity to schools or other pedestrian attractors.Construction Ahead In order to best allocate limited annual funding, it was necessary to develop a system which would provide the most benefit compared to its cost to construct. This was accomplished under the guidance of the Sidewalk Advisory Committee by the use of a Benefit/Cost Ratio. The numerator of the ratio represents a project's "benefits" and the denominator represents a project's "costs." Each project's fraction is represented as its Benefit/Cost prioritization "score" against competing candidates. Thus, the more a particular project's construction would improve the roadside pedestrian conditions (safety), serve a latent demand (schools or other pedestrian attractor), was requested specifically by residents (public input), and is economical to build, the higher the ranking.

Each list ranks the same 12,000(+/-) roadway segments with two different focuses (school and other). All public roadways within Unincorporated Hillsborough County were reevaluated under the master plan.

 

The lists are in alphabetical order and prioritized according to:

  "School-focused" demands and
  "Other-focused" demands (such as shopping, transit, parks, etc.).

For the definition of the column headings, please view the Sidewalk Master Plan Column Headings Legend.

Hillsborugh County Staff realized the need for further refinement of the School-Focused List. The "School Sub-Opt Plan" developed in 2003 and implemented in 2004 replaces the School-Focused List for determining school related sidewalk segments for funding and construction. The plan studied the 80 existing elementary schools and ranked sidewalk need by elementary school.

For the detailed explanation of the development of the "School Sub-Opt Plan, please view the School Sub-Opt Plan. ( PDF, 148KB )

For the the ranking of Elementary Schools Based on the specific considerations explained in the "School Sub-Opt Plan", plese view the School Sub-Opt Plan School Ranking List. ( PDF, 11KB )

An example of the report and map created for each of the 80 schools can be viewed at Sample Report and Map ( PDF, 141KB ) .

For a list of sidewalk segments funded and approved for construction in Fiscal Year 2008, please view 2008 Funded Sidewalk List 2008 Funded Sidewalks List. ( PDF, 863KB )

 
Hillsborough County Sidewalk Master Plan Public Workshops
 
In order to develop the annual proposed funded program, Hillsborough County must field review each candidate for constructibility and feasibility. These field reviews determine whether candidates are constructible in the upcoming fiscal year or if they must be deferred in order to address constructibility issues (such as drainage and/or right-of-way). After the initial proposed program is developed for the upcoming year, Hillsborough County conducts a series of public workshops. These workshops are held annually to present the proposed list of project candidates for the upcoming fiscal year and receive public comment. The final list may be adjusted, based on public input, prior to submission to the BOCC for approval.
 
County staff welcomes your comments regarding the draft needs ranking.
In addition to the plans described above, a new plan is under development to prioritize and program projects with a GIS format based upon the same factors: needs, demand, saftey, public input and connectivity.
 
Please Note:   Information provided by you to Hillsborough County is public information subject to public inspection pursuant to law and is non-confidential.