Monday, November 10, 2025
City of Olympia officials are proposing to create a dedicated sidewalk repair crew, which would establish a consistent and long-term approach to maintaining the city's aging pedestrian infrastructure.
Public Works Transportation Director Sophie Stimson presented a plan to add four new staff members to the existing street operations team to focus exclusively on sidewalk repairs.
“This is the right size to be described as an ideal crew that allows us to address sidewalk repair every year in a consistent manner,” Stimson told the Olympia City Council during a budget study session on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Olympia has a backlog of nearly 28,999 sidewalk defects. Staff reported that nearly 70% of the moderate to high-severity sidewalk defects are caused by tree roots.
According to Stimson, the first year of bringing in the new members is projected to cost $830,000, including equipment and materials. Ongoing annual costs are estimated at $681,000 and would be funded through the Transportation Benefit District (TBD) sales tax, which supports bike, pedestrian and active transportation projects.
The funding request would represent roughly 25% of TBD’s annual $3.1 million revenue stream.
"We've been working to address our extensive inventory of damaged sidewalks," Stimson said.
Under the plan, the crew is expected to handle about 20 to 25 sites of panel replacements each year. The team would focus on simpler repairs, with more complex projects potentially still contracted out.
The annual cost estimate also includes about $87,000 for tree removal and replacement at roughly 15 sites.
While there is strong interest in moving forward with establishing a repair crew, Stimson noted the city has not yet completed public or council discussions on sidewalk policies.
She added that Olympia officials still need to clarify how to prioritize repair and whether property owners would continue to share responsibility.
Councilwoman Dani Madrone, who also chairs the Land Use and Environment Committee, supported the proposal. She called the proposal “an excellent use” of TBD funds and highlighted the importance of continuing to explore equitable and creative funding tools.
She again raised the possibility of using traffic enforcement camera revenues, which state law requires to be spent on alternative transportation projects.
Madrone recalled an analysis presented to a committee in April that compared private contractors with an in-house team. She said staff found a dedicated city crew could complete more repairs at a lower cost and with greater consistency.
Other council members welcomed the progress on the sidewalk repair initiative, with Councilman Robert Vanderpool noting, “It is something the public has been asking for a long time.”
Vanderpool inquired how soon residents might see repairs and whether the public would be able to track the program’s progress in the community.
If approved by the city council, Stimson said hiring would take several months, with work likely to begin by spring 2026. She added that a GIS-based tracking map is also being developed to let residents monitor progress in real time.
“When I started on council in 2022, we had only $11,000 for sidewalk repairs,” Mayor Dontae Payne said. “This is a big change, and one the community has been asking for.”
Councilman Clark Gilman suggested the city explore a hydraulic plate lifting machine for sidewalk leveling, similar to the methods used in Lakewood and Lacey.
City Manager Jay Burney said there was consensus to move the proposal forward.
6 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Wesley
Hiring people who actually do things, not just drive a desk and post about D.E.I. stuff? Crazy!
Monday, October 20 Report this
WillyZ
This very good reporting and as residents who walk on many of the Southwest neighborhood broken, tilting, dangerous sidewalks, l fully support this initiative. And from personal experience,, my spouse who is still a strong walker, was tripped up by a broken panel, causing an emergency surgery repair for a serious arm to wrist bone bone break.
Last, I plan to caution city council and staff on landowner financial responsibility. Many of the 'culprit tree roots' are from trees the city required developers to plant as part permitting needs. If there weren't best practices standards to follow given local soils and other on-site factors or other city input on "best trees near sidewalks", the landowner should not be held liable for any costs.
Monday, October 20 Report this
BobJacobs
I fear we are still not facing up to the problem of street trees. If we really want large street trees like those on Capitol Way and Legion Way, we'll need to have a huge budget for replacing sidewalk panels every ten years or so.
Seem to me it would make more sense to try other approaches, such as (1) put the trees in the yard, away from the sidewalks, and (2) replace the trees every 8-10 years or so before they can heave the sidewalks.
Bob Jacobs
Tuesday, October 21 Report this
GinnyBanana
Please actually fix the sidewalks downtown instead of just studying them. I tripped and fell hard downtown not long ago in September. I got out of my car and was looking at the door of the establishment, which a kind gentlemen was holding open for me. I didn't see the cracked pavement with a faintly red painted edge. Down I went! Luckily, my son and a several other adults as well as the proprietor of the establishment were there to help me up. I wasn't permanently injured. I didn't report this to the city or the police because I wasn't seriously injured. I should have done so, just to give them in incident report. By the way, this happened just across the street from City Hall downtown.
Tuesday, October 21 Report this
BuddBayBat
Can the city please use a fraction of this money to pay someone to prune the trees the city has planted in the parking strips? These fruit trees are in especially rough shape
Tuesday, October 21 Report this
jimlazar
Before Mayor Payne was on Council, there was $175,000 per year for sidewalk repair.
In 2004, when the Parks and Sidewalks tax was approved by voters, the City had a $175,000 annual sidewalk construction budget from City funds, augmented with grant money.
The Parks and Sidewalks tax generated about $750,000/year for new sidewalk construction beginning in 2005. The City had committed to maintaining existing funding for parks and sidewalks as a part of the proposal for the new tax. So the existing $175,000/year was converted to a sidewalk repair fund.
When the financial crisis of 2008 hit, the City clawed back money from every department, and the sidewalk repair fund was one of the casualties. It was never restored, and Mayor Payne arrived to an almost meaningless budget for sidewalk repair.
I am glad to see the City getting its act together on sidewalk repair, with a dedicated crew that will be able to fix (I hope) several uneven sidewalk sections every day once it is up and running.
5 days ago Report this