JACKSON — A grant from the state Department of Transportation will be used for sidewalk improvements near three Jackson schools, paving the way for a smoother daily walk for students.
In November, nearly $2 million in state funding for local safety and pavement reconstruction projects was approved by Gov. Chris Christie as part of the annual Local Aid Infrastructure Fund.
Seven New Jersey municipalities were awarded funding. Jackson received $300,000 for sidewalk improvements in school zones.
Township Engineer Dan Burke said he and representatives of the Jackson School District Transportation Department have selected residential areas around the Holman and Rosenauer elementary schools and Jackson Liberty High School as key locations for sidewalks.
“We are going to radiate sidewalks out into the residential neighborhoods from the schools, going outward to enhance the opportunity for safe pedestrian traffic,” Burke said.
For school district Transportation Director Alan Olkowitz, the state grant represents the perfect opportunity to improve existing sidewalks and to install new sidewalks where they are needed.
“I asked to have sidewalks installed in the areas where we have students who are walking to school,” he said. “We were just closing up some missing gaps in the sidewalks.”
For example, Olkowitz said, the sidewalk that runs along South Cooks Bridge Road from Jackson Liberty High School to County Line Road is missing several sections. Using money from the grant will make it safer for students to walk to and from the high school, he said.
“We would never want kids to walk along County Line Road,” Olkowitz said.
Burke said the sidewalk project is well into its engineering phase. Work near the Holman school could begin in the spring, he said. In some cases, Ocean County approval will be needed for certain improvements.
The sidewalks near Jackson Liberty High School, which is on North Hope Chapel Road, include those along South Hope Chapel and South Cooks Bridge roads.
The sidewalks near the Rosenauer school, which is on Citadel Drive, will include work along South New Prospect Road.
Burke said county representatives have previously indicated they will work with Jackson on the sidewalk projects that may impact county roads.
Work near the Rosenauer school and Jackson Liberty High School could be completed by the summer, pending county approvals, he said.
The number of Jackson students who are required to walk to school has gone up in recent years as administrators have reduced bus service for students who live close to the school they attend.
At the start of the 2011-12 school year, 48 pupils from the Flair development lost bus service to the Holman school. Prior to requiring those 48 students to walk to the Holman school, about 400 children were walking to the Rosenauer and Johnson elementary schools every day.
Last year, residents of the 60 Acres development protested further reductions in bus service to Holman and the rest of the school district, citing concerns related to the safety of their children.
In response to the parents, then-Superintendent of Schools Thomas Gialanella said administrators would hold off on eliminating bus service in the area until safety concerns about new crosswalks, crossing guard posts and a wooded path were addressed.
School district administrators have not said if bus service will be reduced for more students beginning with the 2014-15 school year.
Business Administrator Michelle Richardson said the planned sidewalk improvements could alleviate some of the safety issues parents have touched on in the past when the topic of students walking to school has been discussed.
“We have various areas throughout the school district that — if we had sidewalks — we would not have to provide busing,” Richardson said.