People who live on Ingleside Avenue in Catonsville say they want the deteriorating asphalt sidewalks along their busy street replaced with concrete ones to make travel safer.
"This particular street is much busier than others," said Matthew Riesner, who has lived on the street for nearly two years. "We feel that we pay enough taxes and that we shouldn't be forgotten and skipped over in the process of planning."
Riesner, 32, president of the Ingleside Neighborhood Association of Catonsville, wrote in an email to the county that sidewalks on Ingleside Avenue were installed 25 years ago as part of a temporary solution for a larger pedestrian infrastructure improvement plan.
Riesner said the community is still waiting to see concrete sidewalks.
"Most of the sidewalks the entire length [of Ingleside Avenue] are asphalt, it's like a little path," said Charles Jarboe, 58, who has lived on the street with his wife Fran Jarboe for 20 years. "They're crumbling and they're in disarray."
Carl Berger, 40, a religion teacher at St. Mark School, said the sidewalks are "disjointed", forcing some people to walk in the street or across front yards.
Jarboe said the Maryland Transit Authority bus stops along the street and school bus stops have meant much more foot traffic along the road.
He said people often walk on his lawn, turning the ground into mud during the winter months, because there is no sidewalk.
Berger, who lives on Ingleside Avenue with his wife Stephanie Berger and two elementary-age children, said he understands why travel in the area is car-centric, but said there should be options for those who choose to walk.
"I don't know how often I would use the sidewalks to walk to school, but as far as heading out for errands, that would be a possibility," Berger said.
Rahee Famili, chief of highway design for the Baltimore County Department of Public Works, wrote in an email to Riesner that in order to add sidewalks to the road, "a major road improvement project would have to be initiated."
"Currently there are no funds available for this project in our six year budget," Famili wrote in the email sent Feb. 19.
Famili said the county considers a number of factors before installing sidewalks including: adding curbs, grading and the cost.
Permission needs to be obtained from property owners for right-of-way and property owners must give up trespassing rights, Famili said.
Getting permission from property owners shouldn't be difficult because the community is "unanimously in favor " of sidewalks, Jarboe said.
The county told the community group the street would have to be expanded in order to add sidewalks to the street.
"It would have to include a center turn lane plus five feet on each side for a sidewalk," Riesner explained.
That poses a problem because many homes on the street were built close to the road and there isn't enough room for expansion, he said.
"I think the solution is to leave the road where it is and add sidewalks," Riesner said.
Famili wrote in the email that proper pedestrian infrastructure is a prevalent issue throughout the county.
Famili cited Rolling and Windsor Mill roads roads with similar issues. Rolling and Windsor Mill roads are more heavily traveled with 21,000 and 17,000 vehicles per day or average daily traffic, while Ingleside has 11,000 average daily traffic.
First District Councilman Tom Quirk said sidewalks are "very, very needed in that community" and said he wants to work with the county's Department of Public Works to ensure that sidewalks are added to "well-traveled paths."
With a Beltway widening project soon to be underway nearby, the Maryland State Highway Administration will be adding Americans with Disabilities Act compliant sidewalks to part of Ingleside Avenue within SHA project limits underneath the interchange, said Kellie Boulware, an SHA spokeswoman.
Boulware said there are no plans to extend the sidewalk beyond the bridge.
"We are also going to be filling in sections along Edmondson Avenue between the Royal Farms store area to Delrey Avenue as part of the Beltway project," she said.
Berger said the community would like the sidewalks to continue down the street. "Considering the work that the state is doing to widen the Beltway and for the benefit of a larger group, it makes sense that some consideration would be given to the local community that it's impacting," he said.
"Certainly Ingleside is going to be impacted greatly with increased traffic, so it makes sense to offer alternatives and sidewalks are one of them."
This story has been updated.