by Tom Chillemi –
Uneven and broken sidewalks have long been a problem in Urbanna. At last, a solution may be at hand that will lift up sinking sidewalks.
At the January 9 work session, Urbanna Mayor Diane Gravatt told the town council of a plan that jacks up sidewalks by injecting a slurry under them.
The Urbanna Planning Commission has been looking into the sidewalk problem. The town owns some sidewalks, while VDOT owns others.
Mayor Gravatt suggested the work be done in phases. However, the plan to raise the town-owned sidewalks gained approval by town council, which authorized getting estimates to repair town-owned sidewalks.
Phase one
The first phase of sidewalk repairs would be on the west side of Cross Street, which is the side where Marshall’s Drug Store is located.
VDOT owns the sidewalks on the opposite side of the street.
The phase one work on Cross Street would go from Watling Street to Virginia Street. Both sides of Virginia Street from Cross Street to Prince George Street would be repaired. This area had new sidewalks installed about 12 years ago under a major streetscape improvement and those sidewalks have sunken in places. The town took ownership of these sidewalks as part of the streetscape improvements. Sidewalks that are paved with bricks would have to be repaired using a method other than slurry injection.
VDOT also owns the sidewalks on Virginia Street that are west of Prince George Street and run in front of the Urbanna Market and extend to Grace Avenue.
Next phases
The second phase of repairs would be sidewalks on Cross Street from Virginia Street to Marston Avenue, and on Marston Avenue from Cross Street to Rappahannock Avenue.
The final phase would repair Watling Street sidewalks from Cross Street to the Newman Bridge.
