City of Berkeley 50-50 Sidewalk Program

Does anyone have experience with having the city replace the sidewalk in front of their house as part of the 50-50 program, where city replaces it (not an independent contractor) and the homeowner pays 50% of the cost.  

Just curious about how long the process took and if is better to hire an independent contractor.  

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We are on the list.  Been waiting 8 years.  Tree roots have lifted the broken and lifted the concreate about a foot.

Three times the city has come out to grid the concrete and smooth out the crack with asphalt. 

Good luck

Historically the wait has been very long - 8 years like the precious poster said isn’t out of the question. But the City of Berkeley is lining up some grant and bond funding for the sidewalk program, so I anticipate them catching up on some backlog in the next 2-3 years. It’s worth getting on the list now in hopes of getting in on that. Also, they don’t necessarily go in order of application. If there happens to be another project near your house your sidewalk might get done sooner — I know this was the case for a few people on Milvia when they repaved this year.

The few people I know who have used the program have paid way under 50% of they price they could get using a private contractor.