Sidewalks are a must for all future construction in Jonesboro. That was the message the Jonesboro Metropolitan Planning Commission received from concerned citizens in a recent meeting. For over an hour, citizens pleaded with commissioners to require developers to make sidewalks part of their building plans. The commissioners were considering ordinance changes to forward to the Jonesboro City Council about rezoning and sidewalks. In the 1960’s, codes required sidewalks, but those regulations were relaxed and sidewalks were no longer required, which led to many areas of Jonesboro without sidewalks. Bill Smith addressed this concern during the meeting Tuesday night.
"I think that a lot of us see this as an excuse that has been used over the many years that since sidewalks were not build, they didn't need to be built in the future," said Smith. "For 37 years, a large part of Jonesboro has been built without sidewalks and we are saying that it is time for a change."
The need for sidewalks in Jonesboro was addressed on several fronts. Norma Farrell said it is a safety issue.
"It is very dangerous, especially if you live near East Johnson. You can get hit walking in the street and some people have been killed. We need sidewalks in that area."
Others stated that quality of life issues are what younger families are concerned about. With Arkansas facing major health issues due to a lack of exercise and high obesity rates, citizens stated they wanted sidewalks in Jonesboro to participate in exercise, whether it be through walking or running. Beverly Parker commented.
"We know that one of the predictors of health in later life is how much exercise a person participates in during their life," said Parker. "There are no safe places for people to exercise because a lot of places do not have sidewalks for residents. That means some are running in the streets and putting themselves in danger."
Former director of Jonesboro JETS Steve Ewart says his concern has been that Jonesboro is not providing the infrastructure that would attract people to move to the region.
"We live in the most unhealthy region in the nation and we are not providing people with the quality of life infrastructure that is standard in many other cities. That means a lot to young families that are considering whether or not they will move to Jonesboro."
Steve Ewart. The City of Jonesboro spends almost 250-thousand dollars a year in maintaining current sidewalks and building new ones. Additional grant money can be applied for that can be used for sidewalks. City Water and Light Engineer Craig Light says it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars for Jonesboro to put sidewalks in where they are not located. He also says it would have cost less for developers to build sidewalks during residential and commercial construction. The Jonesboro Metropolitan Planning Commission tabled the current changes to have a meeting to discuss the citizen’s concerns in more detail. Once the commission agrees to the new changes, they will forward those to the full city council for approval.
