School sidewalk plan runs into federal red tape

When does negotiating layers of federal red tape become more trouble than it’s worth? Palisade is wrestling with that question now, after a seemingly simple plan to build a couple of blocks of needed sidewalk near Taylor Elementary School ran into a regulatory roadblock that has town officials rethinking their options. The town received approval earlier this year for a grant of more than $66,000 through the national Safe Routes to School program, something Town Administrator Rich Sales hoped could be used to pour sidewalks along Brentwood Drive to connect the school with the busy U.S. Highway 6 nearby. Students’ safety is an issue as they have to negotiate a gravel area devoid of crosswalks or other markings, as well as a parking lot. But when Sales and his team met with Colorado Department of Transportation officials to learn how the grant would be administered, he was “unpleasantly surprised” at some of the onerous requirements attached to the project. Specifically, that it would be at least a year before construction could begin. And that the town would have to hire a “3/4-time staff position” to manage the grant itself. And that a site supervisor would have to be hired for the entire length of the project. “We would be paying a licensed structural engineer to watch them pour a sidewalk,” Sales said. “It sounds crazy, but it is actually what they told us.” All told, the project is now estimated to cost two and a half to three times more than originally planned...more

And they're here to help you. Multiply this across all the fedzilla agencies and programs and you'll get a picture of why we are in deep trouble today.