New Haven Gets Safe Routes to School Grant

New Haven Gets Safe Routes to School Grant - The Missourian: County

Posted: Saturday, February 9, 2013 3:00 pm

New Haven Gets Safe Routes to School Grant By Josh Mitchell, Missourian Staff Writer The Missourian

Some children who walk to school in New Haven will soon have a safer trip.

The city of New Haven learned this week that it has been awarded a $74,850 Safe Routes to School Grant, which are federal funds administered by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

New Haven City Administrator Steve Roth said the money will be used to extend a sidewalk from the Highway 100/Park Drive intersection south to New Haven High School and Middle School. It will add 1,265 feet of sidewalk.

There is no sidewalk in the location now, which results in children walking to school in the street near buses and vehicles, Roth said.

“It’s obviously not ideal,” Roth said, adding that this grant could help prevent a tragedy.

The grant does not require the city to put up any money, and hopefully the project will be done this summer before children start back to school in the fall, Roth said.

At a minimum, the sidewalk will be 5 feet wide but it could possibly be wider.

Right of way is not expected to be needed for the sidewalk since the project will run along city park property and school grounds.

Once built, there should be a continuous sidewalk of 1.25 miles between the high school, middle school and elementary school, Roth noted.

But he noted that there will still be some areas in town where children do not have sidewalks to travel on to school.

Some older neighborhoods lack sidewalks, he said, adding that city ordinance now requires new developments to have sidewalks.

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Posted in County on Saturday, February 9, 2013 3:00 pm.