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Poland Village Council considers new sidewalk project
POLAND
As one Poland sidewalk project nears completion, village council members are looking ahead to another one.
Council members at a meeting Tuesday discussed the possibility of putting in a sidewalk on Sheridan Road near North Elementary School.
Village Mayor Tim Sicafuse said the council will apply for funds from Safe Routes to School, a grant program that helps communities install sidewalks to increase foot traffic to schools.
The Poland Township Board of Trustees participated in the grant program earlier this year to install a sidewalk that stretches along state Route 170 from Nesbitt Street to Dobbins Road, near Dobbins Elementary. The township received $500,000 for the project, which township trustees say is set to be complete within the next few weeks.
Village officials want to install a sidewalk along Sheridan Road between Island Drive and Johnston Place, council member Bill Dunnavant said.
“There are a lot of people, a lot of students that walk that street,” he said. “Right now, all the pedestrians are walking on the street. We especially want it to be safe for students, and we want to provide them with the opportunity to walk to school.”
Dunnavant said the project still is in the planning phase, and that sometime next year, village officials will get a consulting firm to engineer the project. Village council then can apply for Safe Routes to School funds for the project, he said.
“We sure are hopeful that we can get funding for it because we feel it’s a very good spot for a sidewalk, and we want to make it safe for our students,” Dunnavant said.