Sidewalks are coming to Oakland Park.
Credit: Mike Urell
If you’ve driven through parts of Oakland Park lately, you’ve probably noticed the campaign-esque “No Sidewalks” signs dotting front yards like political yard art. They became the visual shorthand for a months-long, very public debate over the city’s NE 13th Avenue Drainage Improvement Project and whether sidewalks should be part of it at all. Now, after a key January court ruling, the project is officially back on track.
The saga dates back further than the signs suggest. According to reporting by The New Pelican, the project itself traces to 2017, when the city began pursuing grants to address chronic flooding along NE 13th Avenue and surrounding side streets. Early public discussions focused heavily on drainage, with little pushback at the time. Tensions escalated later, residents say, once sidewalks became more clearly defined as part of the plan and leveraging city land – some of which private residents have built and/or planted on – for the project.
In January 2026, a group of roughly 120 homeowners organized as the Coalition of Oakland Park Affected Homeowners and successfully obtained a temporary restraining order to pause the project, primarily over concerns about tree removal and loss of usable frontage. On Jan. 16, Broward Circuit Judge Keathan Frink lifted that order, ruling that the city could proceed with work in its own right-of-way. Construction resumed immediately, with city officials noting delays were costing more than $3,000 per day.
What’s actually being built is broader than sidewalks alone. The NE 13th Avenue Drainage Improvement Project spans NE 12th to NE 16th Avenues and Oakland Park Boulevard to NE 40th Place, pairing stormwater upgrades with pedestrian infrastructure. The goal: reduce nuisance flooding, improve safety on narrow residential streets and close one of the largest gaps in Oakland Park’s sidewalk network, all without using private property.
The $3.2 million project is largely grant-funded, anchored by nearly $1.9 million from the Resilient Florida Grant Program and $1.3 million through Complete Streets funding from FDOT and the Broward MPO. Once complete, the city says residents can expect better drainage, ADA-accessible sidewalks and stronger connections to downtown, parks and transit.
The debate may not be fully settled emotionally, but legally and logistically, Oakland Park’s sidewalk chapter is officially turning the page.
For project maps, timelines and official updates, visit oaklandparkfl.gov.
