Safety vs History: A community divided over new sidewalks through a historic district
Aug 9, 2024, 7:08 PM | Updated: 7:46 pm
PROVIDENCE, Cache County — A Cache Valley community is divided between student safety and preserving history.
Tosha Seeholzer and Nicolee Nielsen are friends and neighbors. They also share a common concern as their kids walk and ride bikes to Providence Elementary School.
“As soon as it snows and the snow plows push snow along the edge, it puts them walking in the middle of the road. And it’s kind of scary,” Nielsen said.
They both want to see a complete sidewalk to help with pedestrian safety concerns.
“I think that would be awesome. Especially because of the speeding cars,” Seeholzer said.
Providence city officials devised a solution: a $300,000 grant from the Utah Department of Transportation for the Safe Routes to Schools Program. The city will add a sidewalk on the west side of 100 East, between Center Street and 300 South.
“We have in, the city in general, we have kind of a patchwork of sidewalks,” said Jeanell Sealy, a Providence city council member.
Sealy said that according to current building standards and city plans, the sidewalk would have to continue through many maple and London plane trees, which would cause new problems for the city.
The section of the sidewalk where it currently ends. (Mike Anderson, KSL TV)
“(The trees) were planted by early settlers in Providence. So somewhere in that, you know, late mid to late, 1800s,” said resident George Laughlin.
Because of the trees, many residents consider that part of the city historic.
“No one is arguing about the benefit of a sidewalk,” said Laughlin. “It’s the location of the sidewalk and the result of the disturbance in our environment.”
The historic trees that are blocking the sidewalk development. (Mike Anderson, KSL TV)
City leaders have halted making the new sidewalks as they try to find a solution that will benefit everyone.
“We’ve also hired an arborist to look into, you know, the placement of the sidewalk and how that’s going to affect the trees to get more information before we really make a concrete decision on when to begin construction and what that’s going to look like,” Sealy said.
Seeholzer and Nielsen agree with the decision; they want to save the trees and protect the students.
“We really do want to maintain the integrity of the historic part of providence and the safety of our kids,” Nielsen said.
Some homeowners asked the city why it did not change the whole sidewalk to appease both sides. The city said that kind of change would involve altering the city’s master plan.
The city council will discuss the issue more during a meeting later on in August.
