Project cements safe trip to school
Published 5:48 pm Tuesday, September 23, 2008
KINGSTON — Walking to Gordon Elementary used to be a precarious adventure. Children who walked to school had to cross in front of buses and cars twice before reaching the school grounds safely.
When Kingston resident Carolina Veenstra’s son was in fifth grade, he rode his bike to school, crossing the same road to ride on a gravel trail on the right side of the school’s long driveway. It wasn’t well established, Veenstra said, adding children had to cross the road to walk the trail and cross back to get to the school, located on the left.
“I was alarmed at how dangerous it is,” Veenstra said. “The entry of the elementary school was not very well planned. There is traffic and busses going into the school and the kids have to cross traffic twice on the driveway. People are rushing at that time of day.”
Now, a cement walkway travels the length of the driveway on the left side of the road.
It’s already proven to be a drastic improvement, said Robin Shoemaker, director of capital projects for the North Kitsap School District.
“Not only is the (gravel trail) on the wrong side of the road, it is not paved,” she said. “Now with the concrete sidewalk, it’s a much safer walking surface.”
The sidewalk portion is one piece of a not-yet-complete walking path that residents, families, community groups and the PTA are working to establish.
Before the trail is finished, a boardwalk section will be built connecting the sidewalk to the crosswalk on Barber Cut Off Road.
“It’s in limbo because we have to get permits for mitigation for crossing wetlands,” she said. “They hired someone to create a plan for the boardwalk and we are now submitting the building application.”
Veenstra, whose son is now a sophomore at Kingston High, stuck with the project out of a desire to see it complete for safe access to school for other children, even though hers are grown.
She said she hopes the boardwalk section gets complete this year.
Although its purpose is similar to Washington Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School Program, Veenstra said it is not.
The Safe Routes to School Program is a competitive grant process. Veenstra said locals and community groups didn’t want to wait or compete for funding, rather it was the sooner the better for the safety of their children.
“Of course the idea is to get our kids safely to school but we decided the cycle for the grants is so long and competitive,” she said.
Veenstra took the project to the PTA and the group made reworking the sidewalk a priority. In the spring 2007, they raised $10,000 at an auction to complete the sidewalk, which was built by Kingston’s Northwest Labor College.
“Although we raised some money, it was mostly done by volunteer labor,” she said.
The Kingston Garden Club donated $1,000 toward dirt and daffodil bulbs to beautify the trail, she said, adding Chinook Properties is helping with the boardwalk portion.
