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Children may get new route to schools
By Troy Brakefield, Staff Writer
Some local children may have a new way to get to school that sounds familiar to their grandparents: walking. Allen Parks and Recreation officials will be filing an application for funding to build a concrete trail to walk to school.
The proposed trail will run from Goodman Drive, west to Stacy Ridge Park and then south to the existing pedestrian underpass on the east side of Celebration Park.
Running on the border of the Allen and Lovejoy school districts, initially it could be used by children attending Lovejoy Elementary School, Curtis Middle School and Allen’s new elementary school on Exchange Parkway east of Angel Parkway, which will open in the fall of 2009.
According to the SRTS Web site, the program was established in August 2005 as part of federal transportation legislation, which guides the spending of federal gas-tax revenue.
“We had one of these come out about three years ago in Mesquite,” said Cheryl Cook, a contract specialist with TxDOT.
Cook said the funding is not a grant, but a construction cost reimbursement program, and that the most a local agency can apply for is $750,000. According to McGinnis, the parks department is asking for $680,000.
“The whole point is to reduce traffic and increase childhood health,” she said.
McGinnis cited studies from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that show a drop in children walking or biking to school and an increase in obesity rates, diabetes, asthma and other health issues.
As part of the funding application process, McGinnis has received endorsements from Area organizations such as the Collin County Engineering Department, Presbyterian Hospital of Allen, Allen and Lovejoy PTAs and local homeowners associations.
“You look at the traffic flow for picking up kids and it’s just crazy. I think parents would be more comfortable with that route if they knew that they wouldn’t have to walk along with that major traffic,” said Trish McMinn, president of Allen/Lovejoy PTA.
Although exercise and traffic relief are important, McGinnis said the children who already walk to school could enjoy another benefit.
“In the morning rush hour, people are in a hurry to get to work, and they don’t necessarily adhere to that 40-mph speed zone,” she said. “These kids are out there dodging traffic. If we can get them off the road — onto an off-street route — they’re going to be a whole lot safer.”
The trail would be part of the Collin County trail system as well as the Six City Trail Plan, which serves Garland, Frisco, Allen, Plano, McKinney and Richardson. Future trails would connect Lovejoy High School.
McGinnis will submit the application Friday after review by the city manger.
Contact Troy Brakefield at tbrakefield@acnpapers.com
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