Many Johnson Elementary students can now walk to school, Rachana Dixit writes in today’s Daily Progress, thanks to the Safe Routes to School program. Two new trails were put in recently, resulting in “throngs of people” using the paths to get kids from Johnson Village to the school yesterday. Not only is the exercise great for kids, but reducing the demand on the bus system is always helpful.
08/23: Actually, the city had a neighboring developer pay for this, in collaboration with the city—not Safe Routes to School.
I am surprised at the hullaballoo about this – growing up, I lived in the Rugby Heights neighborhood and went to Venable – all my friends and I were on bus routes, but also learned early to walk to school, especially when we missed the bus! Although I suppose elementary school may be a tad early for this, certainly walking or bicycling to Walker Middle and then CHS was perfectly normal. It’s about time people started getting out of cars and walking around again. The safety-nazis got out of hand for a while there.
Waldo, actually the Johnson trails were built from the generosity of some local developers. The Safe Routes to School grant has assisted Venable and Buford and will help Burnley Moran this year. I want to make sure they get credit.