Pueblo, School District 60 receive CDOT ‘Safe Routes to School’ grant for Haaff Elementary
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — For the third time in the past few years, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has awarded funding to the city and School District 60 to increase safety, mobility and visibility on pathways surrounding and leading to schools.
The latest Safe Routes to School grant, announced last week, will provide $370,000 to benefit Haaff Elementary School, near the intersection of Jerry Murphy Road and Chinook Lane, on the city's northeast side.
A project there will install what's described as "high-visibility" crosswalks to alert motorists of pedestrians in the area, and curbs and ramps that meet federal disability standards.
"We're going to do that and kick that off here, right after school gets out for District 60, so that we minimize the traffic disruptions there," said Andrew Hayes, the city's public works director. "That's out in early June. And it will be done before school starts back up in the fall."
Proposed future improvements include upgrading the traffic signal at the intersection near the school; building a southbound right-turn lane on Jerry Murphy; and improving nearby sidewalks, curbs, ramps and crosswalks.
Hayes said that the city will apply for another CDOT grant in two years that will pay for those proposed upgrades.
Two prior CDOT grants will finance similar work at Risley International Academy of Innovation, and Park View Elementary School; both are in the same east side neighborhood along Monument Street.
"It involves the same kind of thing -- concrete, improvements to provide some walkways for access to the school campuses and between the campuses," Hayes explained. "It also includes some bike lanes and some dividers between those bike lanes on the road, to kind of provide some distance between vehicles and bicyclists."
City public works and project consultants for the upcoming Haaff project will provide information and answer questions from parents and neighbors at a meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. at the school.
Several parents told KRDO 13's The Road Warrior before morning student drop-off Wednesday that they welcome any safety additions.
"It's a real challenge sometimes to get everybody to school, just because of how everything is set up here, with a real congestion point in there," said Scott Schurle. "It can get kind of dangerous."
Kaitlyn Rasdall said that traffic is her biggest worry.
"I wish there was a different process to the drop-off and to everything around here, because of a lot of close calls I've seen," she said.
