This week's 'Ask Evan question comes from Jeff S. Jeff asks, "Why do some major roads in York area have no sidewalks? For example, the Country Club Road area of York College, South George Street past York Hospital and South Queen Street going up the hill along with many more roads in York County?"
I went to PennDOT for an answer and I'm told that whether to have or not have sidewalks is up to each individual municipality. It is a question that every municipality has had to address at some point in their history.
Long ago sidewalks were very common in urban areas where lots of people walked to work, to school, to shop etc. Over the years as cars became more common, and people would drive more often from the suburbs, community planners and municipalities may have determined the need for sidewalks was less relevent.
Sidewalks are a feature, whose need must be determined by the municipality or the metropolitan planning organization as they are the ones who have control of how their community develops. Consequently, the cost would be borne by them. In some cases, it is possible that the municipality did not foresee the need for sidewalks, years ago, and is now at a setback due to roadside development that would preclude their installation, lack of available right-of-way or other factors that make their installation cost prohibitive.
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