{"id":479920,"date":"2026-10-29T02:10:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T02:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/479920\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T02:10:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T02:10:25","slug":"parents-at-almeda-elementary-worry-about-a-lack-of-sidewalks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/479920\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents at Almeda Elementary worry about a lack of sidewalks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) &#8212; Houston isn&#8217;t exactly known for its well-maintained sidewalks, but parents who spoke to ABC13 say what their kids face outside their elementary school is downright dangerous.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The parents said their kids go to Almeda Elementary on Almeda-School Road in southwest Houston and explained the pedestrian options around the school feel unsafe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The nonprofit transportation advocacy group Link Houston estimates that only about 57% of Houston streets have sidewalks, and 39% of those are rated fair or poor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In fact, the city only started requiring sidewalks in residential areas in 1990, when the Americans with Disabilities Act passed. Neighborhoods built in the 1960s or 70s are less likely to have sidewalks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Today, Houston homeowners are responsible for building and maintaining sidewalks in front of their homes. Homeowners without sidewalks can ask the city for an exemption or pay a fee.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">For sidewalks near schools, the city can use funding to build them, but residents have to contact the city to request them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Parents around Almeda Elementary told ABC13 they can&#8217;t believe safety isn&#8217;t a higher priority.<\/p>\n<p>Top Stories<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"iVcn UbGlr ibBnq qdXbA avodi DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE QGHKv HNQqj ICwhc Bkgbl ZLXw kSqqG rEBmF sfsRN \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc13.com\/post\/community-mailbox-northeast-harris-county-has-not-received-mail-half-year\/19991994\/\" aria-label=\"Community mailbox in NE Harris Co. has not received mail for nearly half a year, neighbor says 2026-10-29T00:55:19.000Z\" aria-describedby=\"CommunitymailboxinNEbody details\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793239825_741_19991986_102826-ktrk-community-mailbox-img.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I really think it&#8217;s unsafe; that&#8217;s why my kids get picked up,&#8221; parent Amari Dixon said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I don&#8217;t feel it&#8217;s safe,&#8221; parent Maria Sanchez explained.  &#8220;There are a lot of huge cars around here; there&#8217;s a commercial area around there.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">This afternoon, I called the District K councilwoman&#8217;s office about the situation at Almeda Elementary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">When Eyewitness News called the District K councilwoman&#8217;s office about Almeda Elementary, a spokesperson said Houston Public Works would go to the school to clean up overgrown grass and shrubs along the sidewalks. They did not provide a firm date or timeline for when the area&#8217;s sidewalk system could be expanded.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) &#8212; Houston isn&#8217;t exactly known for its well-maintained sidewalks, but parents who spoke to ABC13&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[161897,56,58,57],"class_list":["post-479920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-161897","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}