La Mirada Proactively Maintaining 144 Miles of Sidewalks

SIDEWALK TRIP and fall claims are one of the most frequent liability claims experienced by cities. The city developed a sidewalk inspection and maintenance policy that identifies potential hazards and fixes them.

July 13 2024

Staff Report

Note: This article appeared in this week’s print newspaper.

(JPIA)~Smooth sidewalks are taken for granted all too often. Tripping hazards can be caused by tree roots, soil expansion, heat expansion, and several other environmental factors. A city may not notice that a walkway is uneven until someone takes a tumble. Implementing consistent inspection schedules and developing an action plan to correct hazards is the key to maintaining public safety.

La Mirada has demonstrated success in its sidewalk inspection program, setting a standard for proactive risk management and showing its commitment to public safety.

“Sidewalk trip and fall claims are one of the most frequent liability claims experienced by cities,” said California JPIA Risk Services Director Alex Mellor. “Cities usually don’t have the resources to inspect their sidewalks as frequently as they would like, and people can get seriously hurt, especially if there is a sidewalk deviation close to a senior center.”

In September 2007, La Mirada formalized its program and developed a system of evaluation and repair for its 144 miles of sidewalks. 

The city developed a sidewalk inspection and maintenance policy that identifies potential hazards, measures them, and schedules them for repair or replacement if the measurement is deemed dangerous.

“If staff identifies a deviation that exceeds 1.5 inches, mitigation measures are implemented immediately, and a temporary or permanent repair is added to the schedule,” said Tony Moreno, a senior administrative analyst for La Mirada. “If the pavement displacement is shorter than 1.5 inches, it is noted, evaluated, and scheduled for reinspection or temporary repair. If the hazard is adjacent to a school, senior center, or zone with above-average foot traffic, it may be prioritized for repair.”

Based on established standards of what constitutes a dangerous condition, La Mirada’s public works staff also looks for sidewalks with excessive slopes, cracks and holes exceeding a half-inch in depth or diameter, damage around traffic signals, utility poles, ground utility boxes, streetlights, and regulatory sign posts, hazardous tree wells, and other relevant hazards, regardless of whether they meet specific requirements for repair. They also check on potential hazards reported by community members.

“Our public works staff responds to reports about sidewalks, regardless of the size reported,” said Moreno. “The separation doesn’t have to meet any ‘hazard’ standard — our field and office staff endeavor to coordinate inspections of nearly all reports of sidewalk separations. Staff do a great job communicating with citizens regarding their requests and strive to provide excellent customer service in addition to the physical work performed.”

Staff flags sidewalk hazards with fluorescent paint. This marker draws pedestrians’ attention to the defect, reducing the potential for a trip and fall before a repair is completed.

When La Mirada staff flag a walkway hazard, temporary repairs are installed by city staff, addressed by another contractor, or repaired by the city’s contractor.

La Mirada also employs a fast-setting cold mix material called Trowelpave to patch and repair City sidewalks. This material creates wedges that bridge the vertical separations created by tripping hazards, removing the need for a more expensive and time-consuming repair process.

La Mirada Mayor John Lewis told the LML, “La Mirada is a safe place in all areas of life.  We know our residents enjoy walking on our many well paved streets. But our teams also know that even small separation or raised cracked on a sidewalk other imperfection can cause someone to trip if they are not repaired. We have 144 miles of sidewalks that residents enjoy on a daily basis. We do the best we can to make sure the residents maintain a high quality of life here in the City.”