There’s one question we would really like answered about proposed sidewalks on Route 394 in Lakewood – are they actually needed?

The state Transportation Department has said improvements could include asphalt pavement throughout the project from the bridge west of Ashville Road to McDaniel Avenue; reconfigure road striping within the current curb to curb width; minor traffic signal improvements; replacing non-compliant curb ramps; and upgrade traffic signs. Of course, the centerpiece is the extension of sidewalks.

We’ve heard a lot of back-and-forth about the project, but we have yet to hear the public actually clamoring for a costly sidewalk extension project. That makes us wonder if this project is something the public wants or something the state wants to do because it so believes in Complete Streets that it’s pushing an unnecessary project.

The reason to pursue this project should be to solve a problem the public wants to see solved, and that’s not something we’re hearing. People haven’t been coming to Lakewood Village Board meetings asking the board to install sidewalks along Route 394. Instead it appears the state wants to spend a bunch of your money fixing something most people don’t think is a problem. If we’re going to spend tens of millions of dollars on a project that will affect dozens of property owners, shouldn’t there be a good reason? And, before advocacy groups come out of the woodwork, we’re not talking about advocacy groups. We want to hear from actual, honest to goodness taxpayers who want this project. Absent that, the state should abandon this sidewalk project.

Thinking logically, the time to have pursued sidewalks on Route 394 was in the 1990s when one of the region’s main commercial arteries was ripped up and replaced with what was, 30 years ago, a thoroughly modern road. Honestly, the best time for sidewalks to have been considered was back in the 1950s when large areas of Route 394 were still residential.

Lakewood Village Board members did the right thing tabling this discussion. Unless they’re hearing something we’re not, their next move, in our opinion, should be to tell the DOT that this project isn’t needed.