Residents' Comments Wanted on Euclid Sidewalk Plan

Manassas Park city and school officials are working to get a government grant to pay for the installation of a sidewalk on Euclid Avenue that would make it easier for middle and high school students to walk and bike to class.

 Safe Routes to Schools is a program administered by the Virginia Department of Transportation to provide a safe and easily accessible way for children to walk to school.

If built, the sidewalk would began at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Manassas Drive and continue to the schools' campuses.

 One of the first steps in the grant process is to solicit opinions from residents for a travel plan, Manassas Park Inspector and project manager Calvin O’Dell, who is working on the project, said

 “As a prerequisite for the funding opportunity, the city must produce a Safe Routes to School Travel Plan that encourages bicycling and walking to school for Kindergarten through eighth grade students,”  O’Dell said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “We’ve already got a pretty decent team together (but) we do need parents and more community members on the team.”

 O’Dell said he needs comments from residents as soon as possible as they only have until April 29 to put together a good travel plan.

 The commenting period began April 5 and will end April 19, but O’Dell said he won’t turn down any comments received after that date.

The planning committee would like to have 10 or so days to review the travel plan and make any changes, he said.

 “ (The travel plan) represents  our willingness  and commitment to encourage kids to walk and bicycle to school,” O’Dell said. “A big part of that is the Euclid sidewalk (but) we also have to explore other pedestrian amenities.”

 The area was mentioned in the Capital Improvement Plan as a medium priority project for year 2014, but the Manassas Park Planning Commission voted April 4 to make it a high priority 2012 project.

 This sends the right message to VDOT and improves the chances of getting funding, O’Dell said.

 The city began actively pursuing the grant after Manassas Park City Councilman Brian Leeper said he found out about Safe Routes to Schools and provided information about the program to other city officials.  The project is important to him, because it reminds him of his own family’s experiences walking to and from school in the 1980s, Leeper said.

 “I think this project is really needed … kids are walking to the middle (and) high school now even without a sidewalk,” Leeper said. “This mirrors my experiences growing up, as my younger brother walked home from Parkside Middle School … along Mathis Ave, across Manassas Drive, behind the Manassas Park Shopping Center, across Old Centreville Road,  down a hill, behind another shopping center, and across Maplewood Drive. Not exactly a walker-friendly route, but he and many of his friends did it anyhow."

 Manassas Park City Schools Superintendent Dr. Bruce McDade told city council Tuesday that the school division completely supports the project.

 Manassas Park schools have played a huge role in the project thus far, O’Dell said.

The school division is even sending a survey home to parents about the travel plan, he said.

 The speed and effort put into the travel plan is commendable, O’Dell said.

He doesn’t think another jurisdiction could come together on a project like this going in such a short period like Manassas Park has, he added.

 Manassas Park City Council is expected to review a resolution about the project on April 19.

 Manassas Park residents are encouraged to come to the meeting and express their opinions about the Safe Routes to Schools program during the meeting’s  public commenting period, O’Dell said.

 If you have an ideas or comments about Safe Routes to Schools, contact O’Dell at  (703) 335-0019 or  c.odell@manassasparkva.gov.