DELHI TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A local man is making it his mission to get sidewalks installed on a busy road in Dehli Township.
He says he drives the road every day, and the sidewalk is needed because there's a lot of car and foot traffic.
Eiffert Road is where lots of people walk and bike every day.
There's a sidewalk down the street but it doesn't go all the way through which residents say is the problem.
"I've seen a guy on the shoulder and it was extremely dark out. He was wearing dark clothes and I actually had my brights on. I had to swerve around him to avoid from hitting him," resident Charles Runion said
That was a few days ago when Runion was coming home from work. The close encounter scared him, but then he saw something else that was alarming.
"Then yesterday, I also noticed a lady walking her baby on the shoulder too...that's extremely dangerous."
Runion wants the sidewalks to stretch all the way down the road for people walking and biking, not just parts of the of it.
The township says adding sidewalks usually require a grant, or one is added as a result of new infrastructure or updates.
The township adds if homeowners want to add one they can, by all means, they just need to get a permit from the Ingham County Road Department.
These weren't the answers Runion was looking for.
"Why should our tax dollars continue to go into this when nothing is being done? That's not right. That's not right for the American people or Michiganders."
The township values safety and wants to help but they say sidewalks are expensive, and the funding just isn't there.
Runion says he plans to get more people involved and take his worries to the township.
He says he'll keep fighting because he says lives are more important than money,
"I'm a taxpayer, and I'd rather my taxpayer dollars go toward building a sidewalk, than someone's funeral because they are sued."
The township added that they do budget some funds to repair sidewalks that aren't ADA compliant.
Delhi Township says its Non-Motorized Transportation Plan guides the process as to where sidewalks get installed.
It was most recently revised in 2016 with public input.
The only grant funding available for sidewalks is typically through the Safe Routes to School Program.
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