Little Rock, AR Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Sec. 30-36(a) states that upon notice from the public works department, the owners of each lot abutting on any street shall build, construct, and maintain in a safe condition a sidewalk along the portion of the lot that abuts upon the street. Two limits are built into that sentence. The duty runs only to the frontage of your own lot, not to the block, and it is switched on by notice from public works rather than running as a standing obligation the owner has to police alone.

What must be kept up is broader than the walking surface. The section reaches all sidewalks, curbs, gutters and curb cuts, plus any paved area within them, and requires that they be maintained and repaired at the proper grade. Grade is the standard, so a slab reset out of line with its neighbors has not been fixed for purposes of the section. The section also spells out what counts as a defect: any point where the sidewalk or curb is deteriorated, broken, lifted or shifted from proper position by age, usage, roots, or other reasons.

Naming roots explicitly matters, because a slab heaved by a street tree is the owner's problem under this wording. Public works inspects on complaint and serves written notice describing the defect and ordering repair.