Southside Elementary awarded $130K grant

HUNTINGTON -- Southside Elementary is a neighborhood school with just under 500 students and only requires two school buses. Many walk or ride their bike, and school officials want to make sure they can do that safely.

The school applied for and has received one of several 2011 Safe Routes to School grants. The school, which will partner with the city of Huntington, has $130,000 to use toward the repair of sidewalks and curb cuts in the neighborhood surrounding the school. Southside Elementary is located between 2nd and 3rd streets along 9th Avenue, and opened in 2010.

Heather Parker, co-president of the Southside PTO, also said the funds will be used to purchase a bike shelter that can hold more bike racks. She said there also will be an educational component that includes bike and walking safety.

The educational component is highlighted by the fact that a fifth-grade student was hit by a car in late August while walking to school. According to Huntington Police, the 10-year-old boy darted into traffic in the middle of 9th Avenue.

Charles Holley, Huntington's executive director of Development and Planning, said $100,000 of the grant will be used for infrastructure upgrades. That will likely include, in addition to sidewalk upgrades, painted crosswalks between 1st and 5th streets and possibly a pedestrian light on 5th Street.

"There's a few challenges like 5th and 1st streets," Holley said. "We want to develop good crossing points and want to emphasize safety."

Jennifer Williams got involved early on because she and her husband have children at Southside and want to see it truly be a neighborhood school. She said the neighborhood association will educate the community about the changes and also encourage folks to get involved.

"We want to get adults involved to come out and help man the route in the morning, more than just the block around the school," Williams said.

Williams and others said they believe these changes will encourage more students to walk to school. Currently, said Joe Meadows, the assistant director of Transportation for Cabell County Schools, buses pick up Southside students who live on the east side of 5th Street. He said with the traffic lights and direct access to W.Va. 152, it is a busy route.

"Some kids don't walk because of safety issues at 1st Street and 5th Street," Williams added. "There's a lot of potential for more walkers."

School and city officials will meet with the coordinator for the grant to develop a plan of action that Holley said they hope to get started on in the spring.

In addition to Southside's award, the city of Huntington also received two grants. One is a $300,000 Transportation Enhancement grant to continue work on the Old Main Corridor. The other is a $64,000 Recreation Trails grant for the Rotary Park section of the Paul Ambrose Trail for Health. Both required a 20 percent match, which Holley said the city was able to do.

— Article by BILL ROSENBERGER (The Herald-Dispatch)