For nearly everyone in Atlanta, tripping on broken sidewalks is an annoying fact of life. But for people who use wheelchairs, bad sidewalks often mean the choice between risking injury or staying home.

The City’s failure to fund sidewalk maintenance has been the biggest obstacle to change. For decades, the City of Atlanta has failed to enforce the ordinance assigning responsibility for repairs to abutting property owners. Instead, officials used it as an excuse for doing nothing.

PEDS, the pedestrian advocacy organization I founded in 1996 that became part of Propel ATL after I retired in 2019, tried for decades to get the City of Atlanta to fix broken sidewalks. Op-eds, walking audits, presentations, advisory committees — you name it, we did it. But sometimes the only way to get across the street is through a courtroom.

In 2018, plaintiffs representing people with disabilities filed a class action lawsuit against the City of Atlanta. The complaint: Atlanta’s failure to make its sidewalks accessible to all users. Following years of negotiation, the plaintiffs and defendants approved a consent decree in 2024.

The consent decree required the City to create a self-evaluation plan and remove the barriers identified in it within 25 years. Disappointingly, the settlement failed to set a minimum amount that the City must invest in removing barriers to access.

The backlog of broken sidewalks and missing curb ramps in Atlanta is enormous, with maintenance estimates ranging between $1 and $2 billion. To complete this obligation by 2049, the City will need to invest between $40 and $80 million per year.

The settlement lacks teeth. But despite that, the lawsuit and consent decree sparked progress, including hiring an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator, evaluating the condition of city sidewalks, and prioritizing target repairs.

The consent decree also required the City to create a nine-member Advisory Committee that would help the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) learn from the “lived experience” of its members.

Working together in groups of two or three between committee meetings, members produced outstanding recommendations. Several recommendations call for legislative or budgetary changes, including:

• Remove the responsibility for sidewalk maintenance from property owners and reassign it to the City

• Add annual sidewalk funding as a line item in the ATLDOT budget that is sufficient to fulfill consent decree obligations

• Establish a dedicated funding source by assigning 1.0 mill of property taxes exclusively to sidewalks

The Committee also called on ATLDOT to take the following actions:

• Require inspection and mitigation of pedestrian access during road maintenance projects

• Increase inspection and enforcement for ADA compliance of locations with sidewalk or road closure permits

• Install audible signals at all intersections where the walk light begins several seconds before the green light for drivers

At the April meeting, Atlanta’s ADA Coordinator, who was responsible for preparing the ADA Transition Plan, announced that this would be the committee’s final meeting. The ordinance that had created the committee, she explained, required it to sunset following ATLDOT’s submission of the Transition Plan. She said the Transition Plan had been completed, so it was time for the Committee to say goodbye.

Committee members were stunned and angry. Despite repeated requests, we hadn’t even been allowed to review a draft plan. 

Following the backlash, the ADA Coordinator emailed the draft plan to committee members that evening. Shockingly, the plan had ignored nearly all the Committee’s recommendations. First and foremost, it overlooked the huge gap between annual budget allocations to sidewalk maintenance and the funding needed to meet legal obligations.

In response, I called for revisions that increase transparency on this and other issues. Together with other committee members, I asked ATLDOT to incorporate the Committee’s recommendations into the plan. Did the plan’s author, I asked, consider the formation of the ADA Advisory Committee and the City’s solicitation of recommendations simply as boxes to be checked?

The Committee held an “emergency meeting” a week later and scheduled a final meeting for mid-June. Minor revisions were incorporated into the draft plan and sent to committee members several days before the June meeting. Like the first draft, this one overlooked the large financial gap. But whoop-de-doo — the Committee’s recommendations were now included as Appendix G.

As a final agenda item at the June meeting, Chairwoman Kimberly Wright recommended asking the City Council to create a new, five-year Advisory Committee.

Many committee members, including me, declined. The ATLDOT’s failure to incorporate the committee’s recommendations into the body of the ADA Transition Plan had dampened morale. Ongoing pushback from the Law Department also made us doubt that serving on a committee would be our best path forward. 

I recommended that we instead widen the circle. A broad coalition, composed of elected officials, non-profit organizations, and communities throughout the City, could increase the scale and speed of change far faster than we could within the confines of a small committee. 

To me, the committee’s recommendations will serve as a to-do list. By signing the consent decree, the City committed to repairing all inaccessible sidewalks within 25 years. Yet it’s no secret that Atlanta has a poor track record of following through on promises. Public engagement, working with the media, and inspiring elected officials to become Champions may be the strongest enforcement tools.

Increased funding will be essential. The City could, for example, assign one mill of its property tax to sidewalks, just as it has done for parks.

As we develop a strategy, six principles come to mind:

1. Knowledge is power. Research how other cities fund sidewalk maintenance. Update and clarify the estimated backlog of broken sidewalks and the cost of installing sidewalks on streets that lack them. Explore funding options. 

2. Recruit champions. City Council members and civic leaders who take the lead will make a world of difference. 

3. Broaden the coalition. Frame sidewalks as a shared civic priority and build a massive, diverse foundation of voter and organizational backing.  Our vision needs to become everyone’s vision.

4. Equity matters. The consent decree applies only to the condition of existing sidewalks. Yet many areas of the city lack sidewalks altogether. Funding must be sufficient to meet both needs.

5. Build trust. Employ language that restricts the funds to be used exclusively for sidewalk projects. 

6. Remain vigilant. The consent decree requires annual reporting to City leaders. Participate, ask questions, and hold the City of Atlanta accountable.

Every journey begins with a single step. Let’s get started!