Pawtucket, RI Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Article I of the Streets and Sidewalks chapter starts with the City Council's authority under § 351-1 to build concrete, cement or granolithic sidewalks and curbs on petition of abutting property owners. Once that work is done, § 351-2 splits the bill: the abutting property owner pays half the cost of the sidewalk and curb, with the Director of Public Works figuring the total and demanding the owner's half directly. If the owner refuses or neglects to pay, the Director certifies the unpaid amount to the City Tax Assessor, who folds it into the property's next tax assessment rather than pursuing it as a separate debt.

The Director of Public Works directs all the actual construction work under § 351-3. That 50/50 arrangement is not limited to brand-new streets: § 351-9 provides that reconstructing any sidewalk or curb that is 15 years old or older counts as "new construction," so every rule that applies to new sidewalk and curb work, including the cost-sharing and tax-assessment mechanism in §§ 351-1 through 351-3, applies equally to repairing or rebuilding an old one. A separate rule covers brand-new development: § 351-5 makes any builder or developer who receives a permit for new residential, business or industrial construction solely responsible for building the sidewalk and curb abutting that site, done to City ordinance and Building Code standards, rather than splitting that cost with the City.