Anyone taking a walk through the South Capitol knows to keep an eye on the ground or risk tripping and landing on hands and knees – embarrassing, certainly, but also potentially dangerous.
Imagine what it’s like for those using wheelchairs, walkers, and other mobility aids to get around. Our neighborhood is not alone in its inaccessibility. Olympia has an aging infrastructure – 226 linear miles of sidewalks that need to be maintained – and many streets have no sidewalks at all.
What the city has done so far
In 2024, city staff did a sidewalk condition inventory, so they could better understand how much damage there is. In that year and the next, they used $500,000 from the capital budget to pay a contractor to fix several sidewalks, and a Public Works crew also repaired sidewalks in several locations, funded by the city’s operating budget.
What Olympia staff are now planning to do
The city is hiring a new crew to repair sidewalks, using revenue raised from the Transportation Benefit District, and may also continue to hire contractors to do larger repairs.
They’re also working on a long-term policy for sidewalks, and they’ve created a storymap and survey to find out what you think.
If you would like to share your thoughts, here’s your chance.
The survey will close on Friday, March 20.
South Capitol Neighborhood Association 