Improvements to city's Safe Routes initiative to begin this summer

  • 2016-03-28
Fairview Park is getting ready to improve its Safe Routes to School program.

Upgrades are planned throughout the city to enhance children's safety as they bike or walk to school. However, it is not only students who will benefit from the upgrades; pedestrians will be safer as well, since the plans include better crosswalks, lighting, and improved traffic signals.

Matt Hrubey, the city's development administrator, secured a $350,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation in 2013, which Fairview Park used to create the Safe Routes to School program. The upcoming improvements are the final part of the effort.

One of the most important is the reconstruction of the West 210th Street and Campus Drive intersection, which is near Fairview High School. The lights at this intersection still operate on a timer and are not driven by the amount of traffic on the road, according to Hrubey. Replacing them with a signal that responds to real conditions will make the intersection safer for everyone.

Hrubey points out that pedestrian safety is not a major problem in Fairview Park, but the city wants to be proactive to keep problems from arising. He also says the construction is scheduled for the summer, after school is out.

To keep residents informed, city officials could work with a postcard printing company on a card, or series of cards, that let residents know when projects are finished.