ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando officials are about to begin work laying down miles of sidewalks around the city and residents are divided on the issue of whether or not they are needed.
Chuck Stout has lived in his College Park home for 60 years. He said he likes his small lawn and his neighborhood and isn't interested in either of those things changing.
He said he was surprised to learn that his property is on the city of Orlando's list of places slated to get sidewalks.
The city plans on using $3.1 million in federal grant money to build 22 miles of sidewalks.
Stout doesn't like the plan.
"We don't need a sidewalk, we really don't, not at all," he said.
The sidewalks will go in as part of phase two of the Orlando Walks Program. City leaders said it is a matter of safety. They said Orlando has a history of pedestrian safety problems.
"We've got areas where children are walking to school and they have to walk out into the road because there is not a continuous sidewalk all the way to their school," said Steve Wiedenbeck with Orlando's Capital Improvement & Infrastructure Division.
Several residents told Channel 9's Kenneth Craig that the need for more walkways is clear.
City officials said they picked the locations for the new sidewalks based on schools, parks, buses routes and SunRail locations.
Construction is set to begin on the sidewalks in the next couple of months and is expected to be completed in 2016.
WFTV
