The sidewalk along Dauphin Island Parkway (State Hwy 163) in Mobile Alabama has been poorly maintained for ages. I know because I have trouble riding the bicycle on the DIP sidewalk to avoid the busy traffic on the shoulderless State Road.
Due to the piss poor expectations by the City of Mobile for property owners to keep their sidewalk edged, grass is allowed grow over the sidewalk to the point of completely covering the sidewalk. The neglect of sidewalk along this State Highway in the City of Mobile limits is so bad that ALDOT has just started using a huge ditch digger machine just to edge the sidewalk. That is hilarious and sad at the same time. It is probably really expensive too.
Having just got back from an out of town trip where I visited dozens of cities both small and large, I never saw sidewalks in any of those cities neglected like that of the sidewalk on Dauphin Island Parkway.
Even the sidewalk in front of a public school (Gilliard Elementary) has been allowed to become so overgrown by tree limbs that to get around the limbs you almost have to walk in the street. Come on, no one takes care of the sidewalk in front of a public school? Really? That is how little the City and State care about school kids? Seriously?
No one will edge the sidewalk in front of an Apartment complex when the grass is mowed? Nope.
A big trucking company or the landscaping company they utilize won't edge the sidewalk in front of their business? Nope.
Is there no City of Mobile municipal code requiring that the right-of-way along roads and sidewalks in the City limits be maintained? Why, yes there is.
Chapter 57 - STREETS AND SIDEWALKS; ARTICLE III. - SIDEWALKS; DIVISION 1. - GENERALLY; Sec. 57-71. - Sidewalks to be kept free of grass, weeds and other obstructions.
The City of Mobile does require sidewalks be maintained so they are usable. Didn't the City of Mobile hire a private company to maintain the right of way in the Dauphin Island Parkway area? Shouldn't edging the sidewalk and street curb be a part of the right of way maintenance?
What is sad is you can often see members of the South Side Boxing Club running out on the busy 5-lane State highway because there is either no sidewalk at all, or the sidewalk is unusuable.
Even after removing the grass growing over the sidewalk with the heavy equipment digger, the Dauphin Island Parkway sidewalk is still unsuable in many places due to the stupidity of the City and State letting the trees grow wild over the sidewalk. Whose bright idea was it to let Crepe Myrtle TREES be planted a few inches away from the sidewalk? The Crepe Myrtle trees have even been allowed to grow all up in the electrial lines and no one seems to care.
Poor Mobile is in a state of decay and neglect. Mobile, once called "Azalea City" because of its beautiful landscaping is now a city of extremely low landscaping expectations. Edge the sidewalk? Apparently that must slave labor and slave labor is a thing of the past.