Anyone who has walked through a Fort Wayne neighborhood is aware there are large stretches of sidewalk missing in what seem like somewhat random places. The good news is the city is trying to correct this. The bad news is it might take awhile.

Q. Sidewalks are needed on Bluffton Road from Engle Road through Waynedale. There is a nice sidewalk on the bridge over Fairfield Ditch, but it leads right into the mud. – Roger Lindley

A. Thanks for sharing your concern, Roger, and please know the city is looking at this.

The city’s community development department is drafting a pedestrian plan titled “Walk Fort Wayne.” The plan’s focus is to provide a connected pedestrian network along major roads.

There are about 350 miles of missing walkways along those thoroughfares, so the plan will prioritize areas for new construction. The city reports that the stretch of Bluffton Road has been identified as one of several “highest-need” areas in the plan.

So while there is no money to do the work just yet, the city realizes the dangers posed by forcing people to walk along busy roads.

Sage thanks

While driving through Fort Wayne this week, I ran out of gas for the first time in my life. It was a new-to-me vehicle and the gas gauge apparently doesn’t work perfectly – a fact Mrs. Sage forgot to relay to me. I would like to offer my thanks to the police officer who protected me from oncoming vehicles and the kind driver of an SUV who pushed me onto a side street.

But I bring this up as a reminder for people, especially those driving older vehicles, to test the accuracy of their gas gauges. While many cars now have low-fuel lights, “empty” on many vehicles could mean different things. For me, I can’t let it drop below the quarter-tank point on the gauge.

The easiest way to do this is to run the car completely out of fuel and see where that is on your gas gauge. But don’t do as I unintentionally did: Try this experiment in an area away from traffic and with extra fuel on hand.

Harrison completion

Harrison Street next to the new Courtyard by Marriott is almost ready for traffic again. The section between Jefferson Boulevard and Douglas Avenue will be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to allow Brooks Construction to mill and resurface the street. This will complete the external construction of the pedestrian bridge across Harrison connecting the hotel to the Embassy Theatre, meaning the street will be open for the foreseeable future to traffic.

Radio Sage

This week’s bonus audio question comes from Linda P., who asks about the intersection of State and Anthony boulevards. The segment originally aired Friday afternoon on WOWO and can be heard online at www.journalgazette.net/roadsage.