Boing! A new type of walkway could be coming to your block.
Rubber sidewalks, made of recycled tires, are springing up in cities across the country as a more eco-friendly, crack-resistant alternative to traditional cement. Local legislators have posed the question: Could this be New Haven’s time to add a little bounce to its step?
In a letter to be communicated to the Board of Aldermen Tuesday night, four aldermen are requesting a hearing on the matter.
Proponents praise the rubber for not cracking under tree root pressure, as cement notoriously does.
Beaver Hill Alderman Moti Sandman said in his part of town, faulty sidewalks have been a “big issue.” In some places, “you don’t have sidewalks. You have pieces of rubble that used to be a sidewalk.” People in wheelchairs have to be wheeled in the street because the sidewalks are so bad, he said. He joined Aldermen Alex Rhodeen, Roland Lemar, and Erin Sturgis-Pascale in backing the bill.
Rubber paths would not only make for easier wheeling and walking, but would save the city money in the long-term, argued Lemar. The rubber costs more but lasts longer — over 20 years, as opposed to about five years for concrete.
“Concrete sidewalks can’t be maintained,” he argued. “Once they become damaged, they have to be entirely replaced.” In areas where tree roots need to be trimmed as often as every three years, rubber can allow for such trimming: the city can “lift it up, trim the tree root and replace it, and it’s no big deal.”
Sandman agreed the investment makes sense: “I’d be willing to put the extra couple dollars into a long-term positive answer rather than a short-term one that will have to be replaced in a few years.”
The rubber craze has been catching in the last decade or so. Now at least 60 cities are using rubber sidewalks, according to the company Rubbersidewalks Inc.
Rubbersidewalks makes the walkways from 100 percent recycled tires. The eco-friendly upshot: Fewer tires go into landfills, and resources used to pour concrete are conserved. The rubber sidewalk material is also more porous than cement, so it could help with water runoff problems in dense urban areas.
The material doesn’t quite bounce, but it’s said to be easier on the knees. It’s softer when kids fall on it. With fewer schisms in pedestrian paths, the city could stand to save money on trip-and-fall lawsuits, too.
Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts, whose purview includes the Department of Public Works, called the idea “definitely worth looking into.”
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