OREGON — Getting your kids to school in the morning can already be a hassle, and when you add safety to the mix, it can feel like a challenge.
However, for students in Oregon safety and accessibility will no longer be a concern, with an initiative by the Oregon School District bringing more walkable areas to the school ground.
“We’ve made some adjustments for safety in the past, but this is a financial commitment that would allow us to address this specific concern,” said Tom Mahoney, Superintendent of Oregon Public Schools.
“This has been brought up to me in the past so when the grant became available, we immediately targeted that area to try and provide the safest environment we can for our kids.”
A $200,000 grant, submitted as a joint venture between the City of Oregon, the Oregon Park District, and OCUSD, will be used to construct two sidewalks – a 5-foot sidewalk right beside Jefferson Street, an 8-foot sidewalk from the Etnyre parking lot to the Park District walking path and a sidewalk along Koontz Place, the road behind Oregon Elementary School.
“With the cooperation of the city and the park district this grant came along and we thought it was a great idea to apply for the grant to make it safer for our kids and more walkable for our community,” said Mahoney.
However, before the grant could be approved, Mahoney says one requirement was to get feedback from parents through a survey, going along with the city’s walkability test.
One parent, Josh Messenger, who lives near Koontz Place, says he has two boys that attend schools in Oregon, and is concerned about their safety, when it’s time to drop his kids off at school.
“Either they get dropped off and walk on the left side of the cars or they have to walk out into the grass and walk down that way so, there is no real specific spot for the kids to walk or safety for them.”
Messenger says he has reached out to the district in the past, and but still worried something could happen.
“My biggest fear is something happening, when my kids are walking across that open street,” he explained. “There are so many cars back there in the parent drop off section at the back of the school, and I just feel like at some point something is bound to happen.”
Although, no accidents have been reported, he is hopeful with a new sidewalk coming, will continue to stay quiet.
Once the district goes through the parent surveys, it will be presented in Springfield.
Funds are set to be distributed by September 30th, before developments can begin.
The new sidewalks are expected to be in place by next school year.
