Work continues on sidewalk plan

Work toward a potential sidewalk to connect two Crestwood neighborhoods is continuing.

At a neighborhood association meeting in March, residents of Crestwood North approved the use of up to $12,500 in neighborhood funds to continue work on the Sister Neighborhoods sidewalk plan, a program that aims to connect neighborhoods that are close geographically but distant socially. These funds would be used to hire a firm to produce plans for the sidewalks on 56th Street S and 5th Ave S. 

This is the first step toward the installation of new sidewalks, which will help breach an artificial barrier between two historically racially segregated neighborhoods — Crestwood North, which is predominantly white, and Oak Ridge Park, which is predominantly black — said Darrel O’Quinn, the Crestwood North neighborhood association president. 

Oak Ridge Park took another step toward completing the project by approving the proposed sidewalk on 5th Avenue South. 

“We’re just waiting to see if we’re going to have to use an outside engineering firm to actually work on the design plan for it,” said Myeisha Hutchinson, neighborhood association president for Oak Ridge Park.

A price of $1,000 from each neighborhood has been quoted for work on the plan, but the money for the project will have to come from the city capital improvement plan, which is budgeted through the city budget. Hutchinson said this street has been a problem for years, and this is a project that will make it safer for people who use it for biking and walking their dogs. It will also potentially reduce traffic speed in this area.