02.22.2007
Mayor Coleman and Council Member Ginther Join South Siders to Launch $50 million "OPERATION SAFE-WALKS"
City of Columbus Press Release
(Columbus) Leading into tonight’s State of the City address, Mayor Michael B. Coleman joined with City Councilmember Andrew Ginther, students and residents at Marion Franklin High School to announce the commitment of $50 million in Capital Funding for an initiative dubbed "Operation Safe-Walks," designed to invest in sidewalks and aging infrastructure along arterial streets and near neighborhood schools.

"We’ve installed some 70 miles of sidewalks, including 11 miles near schools since 2000 as part of our pedestrian safety initiatives, but still too many residents and kids are walking along roads with heavy traffic," said Mayor Coleman. "Operation Safe-Walks will allow us to focus the construction of $50 million in new infrastructure, from sidewalks, to gutters and curbs, and full resurfacing, depending on the neighborhood’s needs."

Working with the Columbus Public Schools, Mayor Coleman and City Council have made pedestrian safety a priority, moving forward on sidewalk construction, upgrading school crossing warning lights and increasing penalties for drivers who speed in school zones. Under Operation Safe-Walk, the City can also address drainage problems that often force pedestrians to walk in road ways, by having the Department of Public Utilities and Public Service work together to plan and build projects.

"Our team is focused on strategic investments to increase safety in neighborhoods, and especially near schools," said Andrew Ginther, Safety Chair for Columbus City Council. "I’ve been working with the Mayor both as a former member of the School Board and now on City Council, to make sure we keep building sidewalks where they are needed, because it’s a common-sense way to make life better for so many families and keep kids off the roads."

The initiative will begin on the South Side in the vicinity of Marion-Franklin High School, where the City will build new sidewalks by the fall of 2007. These sidewalks will be open to pedestrians on both sides of Koebel Road from Lockbourne Road to Fairwood Avenue and on Fairwood from Koebel to Burley Drive, for a total of 1.8 miles of sidewalks. The sidewalks will be built under the City’s Quick to Construct Program, which saves time and money by designing sidewalks in-house.

Future projects in neighborhoods all across the city will address safety concerns on roads such as: Lockbourne Road between Groveport Road and State Route 104, on Fairwood between Koebel and Watkins Road, and along Joyce Avenue.

One reason so many areas are without sidewalks is the City’s history of annexing partially developed property from townships since the 1950s. Many neighborhoods were annexed into the City without sewers, water lines, curbs or sidewalks.

Since 2000, Mayor Coleman has pushed to build sidewalks and make other safety improvements for pedestrians, including:

Index of all news articles