No Longer On The Sidelines About Old Bonhomme Road Sidewalks

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The sidewalks along Old Bonhomme road need to be repaired.

"There's been crumbling and decaying curbing, streets with potholes and sidewalks that are unsafe for the public," Olivette Mayor Missy Waldman told KSDK reporter Grant Bissell in a recently published article.

The money's available, in the form of a $2 million federal grant, according to the KSDK article published July 25, but the funds would require the city sidewalks conform to federal standards required by the Americans With Disabilities Act and there are some areas along Old Bonhomme road that are less than 2 feet wide.

Patch reported last year, on a public hearing held for the sidewalk project, that a 2-mile stretch of sidewalk along Old Bonhomme, south and east from Olive to approximately Irv Zeid Citizen's Park, would be expanded to a width of 5 feet, which would accommodate pedestrians and cyclists. Patch reported that about 15-20 of the approximately 90 affected property owners attended the Oct. 17 public hearing.

Some of the affected homeowners are not happy with the way Olivette has gone about the project. 

"We've been told the city council considers themselves the stewards of Old Bonhomme and that our feelings are only part of what they need to consider and they know better than we do what's best for the homeowners," homeowner Hillary Zimmerman told Grant Bissell in the recent KSDK article. 

KSDK reports that Zimmerman and a group of property owners have hired an attorney, an action which they hope will bring the city into more open discussions.

What do you think about the city's plans to expand the Old Bonhomme sidewalks? Leave your opinion in the comments below.