The Sidewalk to Nowhere

I've never seen this whole thing officially written down in policy...but, as a life-long resident of Jenison I can speak from a significant level of personal experience.

Jenison has an amusing, perplexing, and entirely unnecessary habit of creating sidewalks that don't actually go anywhere. Why? Good question!

When I was a child growing up in Jenison there were only two roads in the entire town that had Sidewalks. Baldwin and 20th. That was pretty much it. All the "back roads" as we called them...the residential streets off of those two main roads...did not have sidewalks. And, for the most part, still don't have sidewalks.

Both then and now, there was no real need for sidewalks. Other than Baldwin and Chicago Drive...both of which appear to pass through Jenison rather that be a part of it...the roads are quiet, subdued, sleepy, leafy little avenues. For the most part, people drive slowly, they are considerate, and they wave as they go by. So, there just simply isn't a great need for sidewalks. Riding your bike, taking a walk with your best gal, or getting in a nice jog can all be done in the road with no real interference from vehicles. In fact, regular games of baseball, football, soccer, etc are played by children in the middle of these streets. So, riding your bike really isn't an issue at all.

About 15 years ago I started to notice that there were random little stretches of sidewalk popping up around Jenison.

Most of these were in the immediate area of a school...and that makes sense. This gives kids the chance to get away from the lines of cars picking-up or dropping-off little Susy and Johny at school.

But, more than that, I started to notice sidewalks that were a bit more random. And, these were always related to the development of new property. Any time a piece of land was sold to develop a new subdivision or some small section of commercial property...the new properties, both homes and businesses, had a sidewalk out front.

I can only assume this was the result of some change in ordinance from Georgetown Township (since Jenison isn't technically a city). Essentially, they were requiring the installation of a sidewalk of specific size and dimension for the full frontage of any newly developed property.

The idea certainly seems well intentioned. But, fails utterly in accomplishing anything.

First...the addition of sidewalks does not actually change the fact that we don't need them. We continue not to need them on most streets.

But, more importantly, and more strangely, these new sidewalks often started near nowhere and lead to nowhere. Since the essential properties in Jenison were all developed about 40-50 years ago, but this change in ordinance was not retroactive, it means that it is only effecting property that is just now being developed. That means it is primarily on the outskirts of our sleepy little suburb. And, it often means that these sidewalks are popping up between two previously developed properties that do not have sidewalks.

The best and most amusing illustration of the situation occurs on the east side of 8th Ave. south of Jenison between 44th St. and I-196. There is a large plot of land that was formerly a farm or something that was developed as a fairly affluent looking subdivision. There is only one street entrance leading back to it off from 8th Ave. But, since the whole property is new development, all the streets have sidewalks.

The most confusing of these sidewalks is the one that actually runs along 8th Ave. It is a large section of properties...but, its actual frontage along 8th is pretty small. Not more than a couple hundred yards. And, it is sandwiched between a large piece of farmland and another piece of privately held land that appears to be largely undeveloped (at least near 8th). And, this particular section of 8th has a fairly substantial gully along the side where these properties are located, making the development of a sidewalk very difficult.

Since these sidewalks are apparently required, the builders apparently went to great expense to build up a raised section of land just wide enough to support a sidewalk all through this low lying area. I watched the construction process as I passed it each day on my way to work...and, I assure you, this was no small project. The sidewalk alone took significant effort. Men, machinery, and engineering were all used in substantial quantities in order to make the thing work.

The result?

A sidewalk that randomly starts from out of the side of a hill. Literally. There is a hill...then, dug in to the hill is a sheer wall and some flat land. The sidewalk starts on that flat land...it appears as though someone meant to build a tunnel in to that hill, but simply forgot. The sidewalk just stops right in to the face of this hill...right at the property line.

The other side is even more amusing as the builders were apparently required to install the "base" for the installation of the sidewalk for the entire section of road along 8th that might have been down in the low lying area. But, only about 1/2 of that area is along the property. So, there is a sidewalk built that goes along this raised piece of land until it hits the property line...then, it just stops. The raised land continues on...but, the sidewalk does not. And, even more amusingly, the farm property on that side uses that section of land for grazing horses...and they don't want the horses to just wander off...so, they've installed a section of electric fence along that whole side of the property. The sidewalk literally dead-ends in to an electric fence.

So, at great expense to someone, a sidewalk was built that goes from nowhere to nowhere.

I find that funny.