GALVESTON, Texas – A dangerous sidewalk along the 2800 block of 61st Street in Galveston has been repaired just days after KPRC 2 Helps You highlighted concerns from residents who said the deteriorating walkway posed a safety risk to pedestrians.
The issue first came to 2 Helps You through a request from residents asking for help with a sidewalk that had been in poor condition for years.
“It’s been like this for years. There are a lot of seniors that pass by,” Galveston resident Shari Latif said.
Residents shared how the damaged sidewalk forced some pedestrians, including seniors and people using wheelchairs or scooters, into the roadway to navigate around broken sections of concrete.
“If I’m in the wheelchair, I don’t go down this way because if I did, I’d have to go out in the street, and that is not very safe,” said Donna Reading, an elderly resident from a nearby building.
The sidewalk sits alongside a roadway with a posted speed limit of 40 mph. The street is also one of the most popular routes for accessing the famed Seawall.
Sheila King said the conditions became so concerning that she stopped using the sidewalk altogether.
“I haven’t been down that way in about six months because of that sidewalk,” King said. “I get scared. I’ve had people honk at me and stuff like that. But that’s no way to live.”
Days after 2 Helps You aired its report, residents returned to find the sidewalk had been repaired.
“They did it,” Latif said.
“I wasn’t expecting results this quick,” resident Rochelle Snowden said.
Reading praised the completed work.
“It’s all fresh. It looks beautiful,” she said.
The repair addressed the original concern highlighted in the report, but during a follow-up visit, 2 Helps You identified additional sidewalk hazards nearby.
Among the concerns were multiple cracked and uneven sections of sidewalk, including one area where the concrete had shifted significantly from its foundation. Another location featured exposed rebar protruding from the sidewalk near a City of Galveston manhole.
After 2 Helps You contacted the City of Galveston about the additional hazards, Public Works employees arrived within an hour to assess the problem areas.
City workers acknowledged one of the trouble spots identified by 2 Helps You and indicated they would elevate the concerns to supervisors.
For Snowden, the hope is that all of the remaining sidewalk issues will ultimately be addressed.
“If the whole thing gets done, it will make my year,” Snowden said.
While residents are celebrating the quick repair of the original sidewalk, they are now waiting to see whether the city takes action on the additional hazards identified during 2 Helps You’s follow-up investigation.
We will continue to follow the situation closely. It’s what 2 Helps You does.