Sidewalk Segment Of Bridge Caps Off Decade-Old Project In Vernon

VERNON, CT — With the completion of the Dart Hill Bridge project comes a new sidewalk, and with a new sidewalk comes the completion of a decade-old project designed to make the area of Vernon safer for walkers.

Vernon Public Works Director Dwight Ryniewicz said he walked the bridge with Town Engineer David Smith and the contractors Wednesday and marveled at the sidewalk.

"It looks really nice," he said. "This completes a project to connect the high school with Skinner Road School and makes the area a lot safer."

The sidewalk is part of a program that began a decade ago with a major grant. The finishing touches were put into place in 2022 that refurbished old sidewalks or put in a new system between RHS and the bridge.

Students walking from that area no longer have to cut through busy Route 83 business parking lots to get to the school from that area. The sidewalk has been extended from Center and Regan roads to the RHS campus, complete with a state-of-the-art crosswalk at Love Land Hill Road. The project included replacing asphalt sidewalks with concrete sidewalks in several locations:

• Along Dart Hill 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

A sidewalk from the bridge to Skinner Road School was already in place. The bridge sidewalk had aged beyond repair, just like the bridge itself, and was the missing link to the project, part of a local, state and federal collaboration called "Safe Routes to Schools."

Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne said the town was able to do more than anticipated with the grant thanks to "careful management of taxpayers’ dollars."

He has also been quick to say it's not all about students.

All residents of the neighborhoods where the work was completed are benefitting, he said.

The project required the collaboration of the Vernon public school system, the Vernon Department of Public Works, the Vernon Engineering Department and others in town government, Vernon Town Administrator Michael Purcaro said.

Vernon Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary said last year, during construction, that walking isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Physical activity helps our students stay fit, reduce stress levels and most importantly do better academically," he said, adding that the work has also made Skinner Road School more accessible to our students with disabilities.

The program was initiated in 2012 after a coordinated effort by a group of citizens and school staffers secured a grant through a comprehensive and competitive application process designed to encourage students to walk and bike to school and to make the routes children take to school safer.

Skinner Road became a model walk-to-school campus.

The initial focus of the work was on Skinner Road School school, but that careful management Champagne mentioned left enough funding for improvements to the sidewalks that lead to Rockville High School.

In addition to about $700,000, the Vernon DPW provided considerable in-house work, Purcaro said.

Other improvements completed as part of the project include reconfiguring the Skinner Road School parking lot, installation of new bike racks at the school, a new walking path on school grounds, a walking path connecting Hayes Drive with Barbara Drive, and improved crosswalks and signage along Skinner Road.

The Safe Routes to School program is intended to reduce childhood obesity by getting children physically active by walking or riding bicycles to school, making the routes children take to school safer and more pedestrian-friendly, and reducing congestion and air pollution caused by automobile emissions by having fewer children getting rides to school.