Extended School Sidewalk Work On Track In Vernon

VERNON, CT — The final phase of a multi-year effort to "make the routes children take to school" safer has commenced.

The program, initiated in 2012, is also designed to encourage students to walk and bike to school and to make the routes children take to school safer.

The initial focus of the work was on Skinner Road School school, but "careful management of construction costs" has left enough funding for improvements to the sidewalks that lead to Rockville High School, officials said.

"By being careful stewards of the taxpayers' dollars, we are able to do more with this project than initially planned," Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne said. "These sidewalk improvements will benefit everyone, but especially our community's school children."

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration and the Connecticut Department of Transportation funded most of the grant. The Town of Vernon also completed some of the work.

"We know that physical activity, such as walking or biking to school, is beneficial for children," Vernon Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary said. "Being active helps students do better academically and have lower levels of stress. This work to improve routes to Skinner Road School will make them more accessible for children with disabilities and safer for all children."

The final phase includes replacing existing asphalt sidewalk with concrete sidewalk in three locations:

• Along Dart Hill Road, west of Skinner Road, toward the bridge over the Hockanum River
• Along both sides of Route 83 from Regan and Dart Hill roads to the Loveland Hill Road intersection
• Along the east side of Loveland Hill Road to the southern entrance to Rockville High School

The bulk of the Skinner work is complete and the focus is now n the Loveland Hill portion of the project. In locations where the sidewalk intersects a driveway, a concrete driveway apron will be installed.

Skinner Road School work includes a new parking lot, a new walking path on school grounds, a walking path connecting Hayes Drive with Barbara Drive, improved crosswalks and signage along Skinner Road, all of which were done by Vernon Department of Public Works crews.

"The improvements around Skinner Road School have been years in the making and it's gratifying to see that we are entering the final stage," Vernon Town Administrator Michael Purcaro said. "There was tremendous collaboration among school, town officials and community stakeholders, who saw the benefits the Safe Routes to School program would bring and then worked together to make it a reality."

The Safe Routes to School initiative’s goals include: reducing childhood obesity and getting children physically active by walking or riding bicycles to school, making the routes children take to reach school safer and more pedestrian-friendly, and reducing congestion and air pollution by having fewer children driven to school.

The contractor selected for the sidewalk work is Wiese Construction of Norwich. The cost of the project is approximately $500,000.00. Milone and MacBroom consultants of Cheshire prepared the specifications and plans and will inspect the work.