MONROE - An area resident is concerned a gap of 450 feet in the sidewalk along 6th Avenue West is a risk to pedestrians, wheelchair users and kids on bicycles by forcing them on to the street to reach the new Walmart Supercenter north of Wisconsin 11.
Bruce Sylvester, Monroe, presented the dilemma to the Board of Public Works Monday and requested the city require Walmart to install the missing sidewalk before the store opens.
In a letter to the board, Sylvester compared the sidewalk to the need for other public utilities created by the new store.
"Just as the pipes for water and for sanitary sewer were extended all of the way to the new Walmart and without 'gaps,' so too should there be a sidewalk all the way to the new store without gaps," he wrote.
The board has asked Mayor Ron Marsh to make the request to the retailer.
Marsh said Walmart was going to stop installing sidewalks at the boundary of its property, but "took it upon themselves" to create a sidewalk on the bridge over the highway, by eliminating the median.
"They came back (to the Plan Commission) with two or three plans before one was approved," he added.
"I can contact Walmart, but I don't think they'll want to change their PUD," he said.
Walmart's PUD was approved by Council Jan. 15, 2008.
The sidewalk "can and should be done," City Engineering Supervisor Al Gerber told the board.
"I pressed Walmart the whole time through (the development of) the PUD. They didn't want to," he said.
Gerber estimated the cost to install the sidewalk is between $15,000 to $18,000. The actual cost would depend upon the amount of gravel under the sod, which would have to be "feathered back." The incline of that section of sidewalk also would have to meet requirements in the American with Disabilities Act, he said.
In his letter, Sylvester said he liked neither having city taxpayers "subsidize an expense that the City should have required the developer to pay" nor accepting "an unsafe sidewalk gap."
The property is owned by the Munz family, and was annexed in April 2008 at the request of the city, so as not to create an island within city boundaries, which is not allowed by state law.
As part of the request, the Munz family is not to be assessed for sidewalks installed nor are they to be responsible for maintenance of the sidewalk.
"Ask Walmart what they can do," Alderman Chuck Schuringa told Marsh at the meeting. "Use your expertise."
Walmart expects to open in late August.
"Going in the grass is not an option for wheelchairs ... and we all know that kids are very unlikely to get off their bikes and walk on the grass," Sylvester wrote.
Bruce Sylvester, Monroe, presented the dilemma to the Board of Public Works Monday and requested the city require Walmart to install the missing sidewalk before the store opens.
In a letter to the board, Sylvester compared the sidewalk to the need for other public utilities created by the new store.
"Just as the pipes for water and for sanitary sewer were extended all of the way to the new Walmart and without 'gaps,' so too should there be a sidewalk all the way to the new store without gaps," he wrote.
The board has asked Mayor Ron Marsh to make the request to the retailer.
Marsh said Walmart was going to stop installing sidewalks at the boundary of its property, but "took it upon themselves" to create a sidewalk on the bridge over the highway, by eliminating the median.
"They came back (to the Plan Commission) with two or three plans before one was approved," he added.
"I can contact Walmart, but I don't think they'll want to change their PUD," he said.
Walmart's PUD was approved by Council Jan. 15, 2008.
The sidewalk "can and should be done," City Engineering Supervisor Al Gerber told the board.
"I pressed Walmart the whole time through (the development of) the PUD. They didn't want to," he said.
Gerber estimated the cost to install the sidewalk is between $15,000 to $18,000. The actual cost would depend upon the amount of gravel under the sod, which would have to be "feathered back." The incline of that section of sidewalk also would have to meet requirements in the American with Disabilities Act, he said.
In his letter, Sylvester said he liked neither having city taxpayers "subsidize an expense that the City should have required the developer to pay" nor accepting "an unsafe sidewalk gap."
The property is owned by the Munz family, and was annexed in April 2008 at the request of the city, so as not to create an island within city boundaries, which is not allowed by state law.
As part of the request, the Munz family is not to be assessed for sidewalks installed nor are they to be responsible for maintenance of the sidewalk.
"Ask Walmart what they can do," Alderman Chuck Schuringa told Marsh at the meeting. "Use your expertise."
Walmart expects to open in late August.
"Going in the grass is not an option for wheelchairs ... and we all know that kids are very unlikely to get off their bikes and walk on the grass," Sylvester wrote.