City-Wide Sidewalk Program

Beginning in 2020, the City of Ashland has undertaken a comprehensive sidewalk inspection and repair program. The purpose of this program is to make sure all Ashland residents have safe sidewalks to traverse as well as to reduce or eliminate personal injury claims resulting from faulty and defective sidewalks. These claims are increasing annually throughout the State, both in number and in cost to property owners and cities.

This program comes on the heels of a complaint by a

City of Ashland resident to the Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA). As a result, the City has entered into an agreement with the FHWA to address the sidewalk issues in Ashland. While the City realizes that this sidewalk program may place a financial burden on some property owners, the City is pursuing this program in order to enhance pedestrian safety. In addition to safety concerns, this program will lessen the potential for liability claims against both property owners and the City. The sidewalk program is a requirement of the FHWA because of a complaint filed against the city.

The Nebraska Supreme Court has held that the primary duty of keeping sidewalks in a safe condition for travel falls upon the cities of the second class like Ashland, and pursuant to Nebraska Revised Statute §17-522 and City of Ashland municipal code §8-203, the cities like Ashland are authorized to construct and repair sidewalks in a manner the City deems necessary and to assess the cost of such construction or repairs on the property in front of the affected sidewalks. Failure to do so creates increased liability exposure for both the private property owner and the City of Ashland.

We are now beginning Phase 2 of the sidewalk program. This area is between 18th and 30th Streets and Furnas and Birch Streets. The first step in this process is to have all of the sidewalks in Phase 2 evaluated. This was done over the summer of 2023. The City worked with Precision Concrete Cutting to have this done. The City also awarded the Phase 2 curb ramp repair project to Rosenboom Construction. The curb ramp work will get started in the spring/summer of 2024. In the coming days, those property owners in Phase 2 will be receiving letters detailing the repairs that need to be made on the sidewalks in Phase 2 of the Ashland Repair/Replacement Program.

Below you can find the current sidewalk maintenance plan that details the phasing and the work to be done, the agreement with Federal Highway Administration that was reached after a complaint by a citizen and the link to the Ashland sidewalk map. This map does show the phasing as well as individual sidewalks that can be clicked on and a timeline for repair/replacement will be updated as we work with property owners on this project. We're in the process of updating the map with the completed sidewalk information in Phase 1. Check back if you're interested in those updates.

If any other questions arise that you cannot find the answer to, please call City Hall at 402-944-3387.