By Andy Diffenderfer
Correspondent
A sidewalk project in Chickamauga, Ga., is closer to becoming reality and should mean safer routes to school for students, city officials say.
The $1.1 million project, funded with federal stimulus money, includes 2.88 miles of sidewalks. The Georgia Department of Transportation said the city can put the project out for bid April 4, and the city is looking at the end of May to get started, City Manager John Culpepper said. The sidewalks should take about six months to finish, he said.
As the Chickamauga City Schools system has no busing, children who walk to school often do so along the narrow edges of roads, Mr. Culpepper said. Having more sidewalks will make it safer and encourage more students to walk to school.
“We’re very excited about it, and we’re definitely looking forward to it,” Chickamauga City Schools Superintendent Melody Day said. “We have a tremendous amount of kids who walk to school, and most of them have no sidewalks. We have some that walk from a pretty good distance. It’s a tremendous need.”
The path to get this far in the plans has been a long one, Mr. Culpepper said.
“There was a lot of stuff no one counted on,” he said, adding that it took from March 2000 to Jan. 21 of this year for the project to be designated shovel-ready. “We thought it would be a lot easier process. Sometimes we didn’t think we were going to make it.”
Mr. Culpepper estimated the city spent more than $100,000, mostly in special purpose local option sales tax funds, for assessments, studies, specifications and “nuts and bolts” engineering.
He said the Chattanooga, Hamilton County and North Georgia Transportation and Planning Organization approved the plans in March.
There were environmental studies and a cultural assessment to make sure “we weren’t disturbing anything from an historical aspect,” Mr. Culpepper said. The city also spent $3,000 to ensure that 50 houses that would qualify for National Register of Historic Places listings wouldn’t be disturbed, he said.
“In the meantime, you’re working with (the Georgia Department of Transportation) to meet their regulations and their specifications on building sidewalks,” he said. Mr. Culpepper thanked state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, for help in getting approval from the Federal Highway Administration. The project meets criteria of the highway administration’s Safe Routes to Schools program.
Benefits of Chickamauga becoming a “walk-friendly community” will be many, the city manager said.
Sidewalks could relieve traffic congestion around the schools and have an economic impact in attracting visitors who may want to spend some time downtown, he said.
The new system also will have connections to the city’s multiuse trail, Mr. Culpepper said.
“I’m anxious to get it started, and I’m anxious to get it finished,” he said. “We’re improving the quality of life in the city of Chickamauga.”
Andy Diffenderfer is based in LaFayette, Ga. Contact him at andydiff97@comcast.net.