Ever since I moved to DeKalb, I’ve noticed the abhorrent quality of the sidewalks and roads.
It wasn’t long before moving here that I found myself in an accident on West Lincoln Highway while riding on my scooter, causing an injury to my wrist, head and side. A big dip in the sidewalk caused me to fall off my scooter and crash into the hard pavement, forcing me to stay home from work for a week and making me wary of riding my scooter on the sidewalk again.
It isn’t just the sidewalks either. The roads are in terrible shape as well, forcing me to be extra cautious when I drive around in my 2008 Toyota Yaris, nervous about potholes wearing my tires. After living in the suburbs with relatively good roads my whole life, the major change in quality when I got here was disheartening.
Many DeKalb residents have complained about the state of the pavement, leading to the City Council approving a $4 million contract to repave roads. This is a great step in the right direction, leading to repairs in DeKalb’s most desperately needed areas, however this should only be the first step in a long process of making paved areas safer.
The areas that will be repaved from this contract doesn’t cover many other areas that could use repairs.
Carmen Vlahos, a senior geology major, was injured in the Stevenson parking lot due to the poorly maintained pavement.
“I was walking into Stevenson from the parking lot, stepped into a dark pothole, heard a snap and broke the outside of my right foot,” Vlahos said.
Hannah Hall, a junior psychology major, has not been injured by the pavement, but still recalls having issues with its quality.
“I don’t think the quality of the pavements and roadways are that good. Sometimes I have to look down to walk. I’ve definitely tripped up on myself a few times,” Hall said.
Many of these incidents have happened within the confines of NIU’s campus, which will not be repaired with the $4 million contract. More money should be put into maintaining NIU’s pavement as well, especially since those areas are heavily populated which could lead to more people being injured.
The maintenance and funding for road repair is completely separate from the maintenance and funding for the sidewalks as well.
While the city of DeKalb is completely responsible for the maintenance and quality of the roads in DeKalb, that’s not the case for the sidewalks. The owner of the property of the location of the sidewalk is also responsible for at least 25% of the funding.
This can be a big financial burden for many businesses and property owners, leading them to not want to repair their sidewalks unless absolutely necessary.
The criteria for an “unsafe” sidewalk requires the sidewalk to be “broken, have sections of different height, have excessive grade or have any other defects, such that walking on such sidewalks presents a danger under normal weather conditions,” according to the city of DeKalb Municipal Code.
I’ve come across many sidewalks in DeKalb, specifically the one I crashed my scooter on, that do not conform to these standards. Forcing property owners to be financially responsible for pavement that is public property ensures that sidewalks won’t be as well maintained as the roads, and that can cause injuries.
The $4 million contract to repave roads in DeKalb is a long overdue but necessary improvement to the DeKalb area, and it should not stop there. With so many students at NIU living on-campus, using scooters, bikes or their feet to get to class, keeping the sidewalks at an acceptable quality is necessary to keep the NIU and DeKalb area safe from more crashes, falls, trips and injuries.
The sooner that these issues are fixed, the sooner that people can get to class safely again.
