Poland pursues grant for safer sidewalks, crosswalks

Poland Local School District is teaming up with Poland Township and Poland Village to pursue grant funding for a project that bridges all three jurisdictions: building sidewalks.

Students and families traveling to school and extracurriculars are often faced with heavy traffic, and in some cases, no designated space to walk or cross the street.

The intersection of Dobbins Road and Route 170 is of particular concern, Poland Schools Superintendent Craig Hockenberry says. The sidewalk running parallel to 170 is heavily traveled and comes to a sudden end at the traffic light, meaning, pedestrians have to either cross the busy intersection or walk alongside traffic to get to the football stadium.

"We have an enormous amount of traffic on Friday night football games where we have up to six to ten thousand people here, and no crosswalks, and no sidewalks," Hockenberry says.

In order to coordinate an application for the 'Safe Route to School' grant, the school district, township and village have hired on an outside agency, Akron-based Environmental Design Group, to put together a comprehensive study about the area's pedestrian requirements. The results of that study will both be included in the application and will inform decision-making about where sidewalks, crosswalks, and lamp posts will be installed.

Utilizing an experienced outside agency to pursue grant funding is not an uncommon practice. Doing so provides the applicant security that all requirements or that grant are met, and may result in a higher chance of approval.

"Regardless of where you live in Poland, we want to make sure everybody is safe," Hockenberry says.