Columbia aldermen commit to safer school routes
Published 6:35 pm Thursday, February 14, 2019
The Columbia Board of Aldermen on Feb. 4 authorized expenditure of up to $15,000 for school safety measures.
The board “desires to create a marked pedestrian walkway along the east side of Fonsoe Street” in the block between Main Street and Scuppernong Drive.
North Carolina Department of Transportation is to paint a dedicated walkway on the narrow street because the town owns too little right-of-way to install curb, gutter and sidewalk.
Cost estimate for the Fonsoe Street work ranged from $2,000 to $15,000, Rhett White, town manager, told the governing board, so the larger figure was authorized.
A second project will construct a sidewalk on the north side of Main Street from Columbia High School to the east end of the street, closing a gap between existing sidewalks and providing a continuous paved walkway from Scuppernong River to Food Lion. The board previously appropriated $5,000 to match NCDOT funding for this section of the work.
The town will apply $10,000 it has received from a Safe Routes to School grant to the project budget.
No timetable was discussed.