Georgetown city officials and elected leaders celebrated the completion of a new sidewalk Friday along the southbound I-35 frontage road adjacent to Wolf Ranch Town Center.
The nearly mile-long sidewalk runs from Leander Road at I-35 to University Avenue near the Wolf Ranch retail center. The $900,000 project, which broke ground in spring of this year, includes a paved switchback section, located south of the frontage road bridge that crosses the San Gabriel River.
The switchback allows users of the sidewalk who are riding bikes, using wheelchairs or otherwise have mobility-related issues to descend a hill just south of the bridge without having to navigate a nearby staircase, which was included in the project.
Georgetown Mayor Dale Ross said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday the new sidewalk will help alleviate safety concerns for pedestrians and cyclists who walk along the I-35 frontage road to get to Wolf Ranch or other destinations in the area.
“This was a necessary sidewalk,” Ross said during the ceremony.
The mayor was joined Friday by other city officials, City Council members, municipal workers and Georgetown residents. The crowd included former City Council Member Keith Brainard, who helped spearhead the sidewalk project while he served on the council.
The sidewalk will give residents living in neighborhoods south of Leander Road more direct access to shopping centers and other locations near Wolf Ranch, Brainard said, noting nearby residential areas are home to a number of multifamily housing complexes and low-income residents who often lack transportation options. He said the added safety benefits from the new sidewalk were important factors in his push for the project to be built.
“This was a call to action for the city,” Brainard said Friday.
Patin Construction was the project’s contractor, and Kennedy Consulting handled engineering, according to the city.
