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SUNNY Temp: 94 °F Wind: NW at 4 mph Sunday, September 28, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine Joy Magazine Tempo A & E RogueValleyAutoFinder RogueValleyHomeFinder Real Estate Showcase Wellness Connection Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Employment Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend August 4, 2003 Jason Wasinger, 19, checks the slope on Summit Avenue during construction of a sidewalk near Jackson School in Medford, part of a city plan to build sidewalks around all the schools. Construction will move to Prune Street this week. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell For safer walking HUD grant means sidewalks along streets to schools By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune To get to their west Medford school two blocks from their home, Elizabeth Alvarez, 9, Luis Alvarez, 7 and Cecelia Sanchez, 6, have had to walk in the street. But no more. Thanks to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant, a sidewalk is going in along Summit Avenue between Mary Place and Clark Street, just in front of their homes. The new section connects with the sidewalk along Summit toward Jackson Elementary School. The first portion of the $230,000 project is part of the city’s plan to build sidewalks around all the schools and parks. Advertisement The second part of the project includes street and sidewalk construction on Prune Street between Columbus Avenue and Plum Street near Union Park in west Medford. Work is scheduled to begin this week. "We will close the street to local traffic," said Dennis Hart, Medford’s public works design and construction manager. He said LTM Inc. is scheduled to have the two parts completed by Sept. 12. Councilwoman Claudette Moore, self-proclaimed "squeaky wheel" on the subject, has been pushing for three years to get sidewalks around Medford schools. "I’m so pleased because we finally have funding to get them," she said. The city has completed more than a dozen similar sidewalk projects in low-income neighborhoods using Housing and Urban Development money. "We’re not doing it to improve property value. We’re doing it for safe walkways for kids to get to school," said Moore. She explained that school bus service doesn’t serve areas close to the schools. "If you live within a mile of the school the kids have to walk to school," she said. Often in neighborhoods lacking sidewalks, parents will drive their young children to school because the street is too dangerous, said Moore. This just creates unnecessary traffic congestion as parents drop off their kids, she said. Moore said the question has been raised about why residents don’t put their own sidewalks in, but for some people, paying for a sidewalk is well outside of the family budget, explained Moore. Louise Dix, Medford’s neighborhood resource coordinator, agrees. "I just can’t believe how expensive sidewalks are," she said. It costs about $1 million to put sidewalks in a one-mile radius around a school, she said. She said the city receives $750,000 annually from HUD, but part of that is allotted to other projects, so they’re looking into other options to pay for sidewalks. Dix said the city is awaiting word on $10 million from federal transportation committee funds for most of the sidewalks around schools, but they won’t know about that funding until January. Dix said she never realized how bad the problem was "until I started walking my kids to school and realized there weren’t sidewalks." Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times