Sidewalks in Calgary could get a boost, as a city council committee voted in favour of pursuing a potential funding path that would add millions to maintenance budgets.

Members of Calgary’s Infrastructure and Planning Committee heard that there’s a $246 million backlog of sidewalk safety hazards in the city, covering 53,326 locations. There are currently 6,245 kilometres of sidewalk in Calgary, valued at $4 billion.

Further, while enjoying a funding boost between 2020 and 2023 with an average of $8 million annually, the City of Calgary’s concrete rehabilitation budget nearly dropped in half in 2024 through 2026 (roughly $4.25 million).

Currently, 67 per cent of Calgary’s sidewalks are in good condition, 31 per cent in fair condition, and two per cent in poor.

Councillors were presented with four funding options, ranging from $5 million annually to $116 million annually. The recommendation was to go with Option B, which suggested $24 million annually for sidewalks and $13 million for curbs and gutters. That would eliminate the city’s poor sidewalks and maintain a level of 54 per cent in good condition, along with 78 per cent good condition for curbs and gutters.

Charmaine Buhler, manager of construction materials with the City of Calgary, said they recommend establishing a concrete quality level of service and funding that would support that in the upcoming city budget.

“The 37 million annual funding requirement for Option B has been included in the 10-year capital infrastructure plan,” she said.

“To achieve these outcomes, investment would be prioritized towards safety locations that require immediate attention.”

At current funding levels, the city estimated that 0.5 per cent of sidewalks would fall into the poor category annually.

According to the City’s spring concrete quality survey, 80 per cent of Calgarians said even sidewalks were important. Three-quarters of respondents said sidewalk improvement should be a priority.

Sidewalks are something Calgarians see every day: Coun. Pantazopoulos

Ward 6 Coun. John Pantazopoulos said that the goal of 54 per cent in good condition and eliminating the poor condition is a good target.

“We’re getting rid of it. We’re addressing it. It’s literally in front of everybody’s front step. They see it,” he said.

“It’s tangible, and they observe it every time they walk their dog or just go out to for a stroll.”

Pantazopoulos said what they’re really discussing is the timeline in which they want the work done.

Buhler said that they have the capacity to get up to the $37 million right away. She said 75 per cent of the work is delivered by contractors, with 25 per cent done in-house.

“We’ve been working very closely with the construction community for a while, and so the capacity isn’t the issue, but it’s more available funding,” she said.

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot said that with sidewalks in particular, they’re dealing today with the building boom of the 70s. Pavement from that era is now eroding at an accelerated pace.

“There was a plan for cost recovery from a tax revenue perspective, and we included lifecycle maintenance and upgrade reserves in as part of our plan,” he said.

“What was not fully contemplated was replacement in those budgetary discussions.”

He said there will be growing pains over the next five to 10 years to adjust the budget to accommodate the influx of city infrastructure that is reaching end of life from the 70s boom.

“This council is committed to having better financial planning for the future for those exact kinds of things, and for us to be able to, I guess, address all of those existing infrastructure deficits is not something that we can expect that we’re going to be able to fix overnight,” he said.

“It’s going to take time, and it’s going to require some successive tax increases to address this deficit.”

The committee unanimously approved the option B recommendation. It will now go to a full meeting of council for final approval.