Since starting this blog, to my own surprise, I have not missed a single day of posting a new sidewalk stamp. I have a rule that I can only post a stamp I photographed that very day, most often on my daily walk. Thus my blogging and my daily walking habits reinforce each other. Today, however, I will have to have my first off day, as I am going in for surgery and probably will not be in a condition to walk afterward. In fact, I am not sure when I will be able to resume.

So today let me show you something I have saved for just such an occasion: the City of Lansing Municipal Code on sidewalk markings. Early on I had wondered whether contractors mark sidewalks out of some kind of legal obligation, or whether it is just advertising. It turns out it is the former (and probably has the latter as a bonus). Under 1024.10 (d), “Marking,” it states:

Marking. Any person constructing sidewalks or approaches in any right-of-way shall mark each walk or approach with his or her name and with the year in which such walk or approach is built. Letters and figures used in marking shall be not less than one and one-half inches in height and shall be placed in such position on such walk or approach as the Director of Public Service may specify.

City of Lansing Municipal Code, 1024.10 (d)

So all those undated markings? Or worse, the obviously new slabs with no markings at all? Scofflaws.

Also, I wonder if “approach” is what I have been calling a “curb walk.”