# Who Pays for Sidewalk Repair in Austin? The City | Who Pays the Repair?

> Austin dropped the owner sidewalk-repair duty in 1999. The City now maintains about 2,800 miles of existing public sidewalk; report damage through 3-1-1.

**Who pays:** city

Austin: the city pays, the owner-maintenance rule left the City Code in 1999; TPW now maintains about 2,800 miles of sidewalk.

**Boundary:** Existing sidewalks in the public right-of-way are maintained by the City of Austin (Transportation and Public Works). The adjacent-owner maintenance requirement was removed from the City Code in 1999.

**Property owner:** No standing duty to maintain existing public sidewalks since 1999 (historically owner-side before then). Report damage through 3-1-1.

**City / agency:** City of Austin Transportation and Public Works runs the sidewalk repair and rehabilitation program and "is currently responsible for maintaining approximately 2,800 miles of existing sidewalk network."

**Exceptions:** New sidewalks built as part of private development remain a developer obligation under the land development code (not covered by this maintenance rule).

## Sources
- [Austin, TX Sidewalk Repair source candidate](https://library.municode.com/tx/austin)
- [City of Austin: Sidewalks, Crossings and Shared Streets Plan (maintenance responsibility history, 1999 code change)](https://www.austintexas.gov/transportation-public-works/sidewalks-crossings-and-shared-streets-plan) — "Maintenance of existing sidewalks within public right-of-way has historically been considered the responsibility of the adjacent property owner. The City of Austin Code included this responsibility requirement until 1999." / "City Code requires property owners to maintain vegetation and non-public trees above or adjacent to sidewalk within the right-of-way." / "The Transportation and Public Works Department Urban Forestry Program pro-actively addresses vegetative sidewalk obstructions in response to the 3-1-1 customer service request system and through an ongoing inspection, notification, and enforcement program." (accessed 2026-08-22)
- [Sidewalks, Crossings and Shared Streets Plan](https://www.austintexas.gov/transportation-public-works/sidewalks-crossings-and-shared-streets-plan) — "The Transportation and Public Works Department is currently responsible for maintaining approximately 2,800 miles of existing sidewalk network." (accessed 2026-09-27)

_Last verified 2026-08-22. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/rules/austin-tx-sidewalk-repair/ — every claim checked against a primary source before publication (see /methodology/)._