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Riverside man says he has waited years for sidewalk to be fixed as city works through backlog

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A cracked and crumbling sidewalk is a cause for concern for Riverside neighbor Dennis Price.

“Kids trip over it. People running by trip over it. People on bicycles run into it,” Price said.

The roots of the oak tree pushed through the pavement.

Price painted the roots white right before Halloween so kids wouldn’t trip over them while they were out trick-or-treating.

Price said a barricade was put over the sidewalk at least five years ago. Year after year he waited for it to be fixed.

“Apparently the city sees it as a permanent solution because they’ve done nothing to fix the sidewalk,” Price said.

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He finally filed a complaint in Aug. 2018. Today, the status shows “in progress” with an estimated completion date from Nov. 28, 2018 to Feb. 21, 2020.

Action News Jax reached out to the City of Jacksonville and asked how they prioritize what sidewalks are repaired first.

COJ said sidewalks are repaired based on age, unless there is a compelling reason in place to accelerate the repair.

The city said it’s working through a backlog of sidewalk complaints.

Right now, at least 480 sidewalk issues are in the system.

So far this year, 589 sidewalk issues have been completed throughout Jacksonville.

The city said the sidewalk in front of Price’s home is made of pavers, which are repaired by hardscape contract.

The city said it’s currently repairing paver sidewalks from issues reported in 2014 and 2015.

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