“Right now the numbers show 0.6 percent of kids walk to Bellbrook Middle School,” Sugarcreek Twp. planner Cara KillKelley said. “These improvements have the potential to impact upwards of 20 percent of all students in grades K-8, and even higher levels for the middle school and intermediate school.”
Sugarcreek’s grant application seeks to extend the existing Upper Bellbrook Road bikeway past the schools complex to the intersection at Feedwire Road. Crosswalks and pedestrian signals would be added to that intersection.
The path would then continue on the south side of Feedwire to the middle school area, where a crosswalk with flashing lights would allow students to cross Feedwire. A path also would be built from Feedwire up to the school building, so students wouldn’t have to share the long driveway with motorists.
The township hopes to continue the path west along Feedwire to Adams Place, which would give students in the East of Eden, Eden Meadows and Eagle Rise subdivisions walking or biking access to the intermediate, middle and high schools.
KillKelley said the township was still discussing that leg of the path with a few property owners in that area who might be affected.
In the Kable’s Mill subdivision, the plan would add a crosswalk at Roselake Drive and improve the existing pathway from the neighborhood to the schools complex.
Ohio Department of Transportation officials have said Sugarcreek should learn early in 2010 whether its application is approved. If it is, design and engineering work would occur that year, with construction of the paths and safety signals scheduled for completion in 2011.
KillKelley said if the project is approved, education and enforcement also will be key missions. Students would be taught about walking and biking to school safely, respecting private property adjacent to the paths and stranger danger.
And due to the 45- and 50-mph speed limits on Feedwire and Upper Bellbrook roads during nonschool hours, she said there would be extra efforts to warn drivers of the crosswalk areas, especially on Feedwire at the middle school. Those would include flashing overhead signs, police enforcement and electronic speed readouts telling drivers how fast they are going.
“If it’s approved, this would be a great asset for the kids,” KillKelley said. “And on a broader scale it will also connect some of our big population centers in the township directly to downtown Bellbrook (via the extended paths). That’ll be a real amenity for the community as a whole.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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