Sidewalk installation connects Kennett Square, shopping center

Construction has started on new sidewalks that are being installed from the western edge of Kennett Square all the way to the New Garden shopping center.

Kennett Square and Kennett Township officials said the sidewalks will make it much safer for pedestrians walking along the road, many with grocery bags in hand. Motorists often speed by at 50 or 60 mph.

Sidewalks are being in-

stalled all the way from Cypress Street near Victory Brewing Co., to Scarlett Road, near the New Garden Shopping Center. The nearly $2 million street reconstruction is funded 80 percent by Kennett Township, and 20 percent by New Garden Township. Kennett Township is responsible for $140,000 of the cost, and New Garden $40,000. A state grant funds $850,000 of the project.

It will complement Kennett Square’s recent $1.3 million Cypress Street reconstruction project that included new handicappedaccessible sidewalks and trees.

Lisa Moore, Kennett Township manager, said supervisors

have been working on the plan for two years and had obtained an $850,000 federal grant. The project not only includes new sidewalks along West Baltimore Pike, but new sidewalks from West Baltimore Pike near Creekside Diner to Penn’s Manor Road, and along portions of Rosedale Road and McFarlan Road, in the vicinity of Tague Lumber.

“There are a lot of kids in Granite Ridge, and now they can walk to school, they can walk to town, and they can walk to the ballfields safely,” Moore said.

Moore said there are three segments for the project:

• 1 - Cypress Street from the Mr. Wizard Car Wash to the intersection of Scarlett and Cypress.

• 2 - McFarlan Road from Granite Ridge Development

to Rosedale Road then Rosedale to the Legacy Fields.

• 3 - Old Baltimore Pike from Penns Manor Drive to Mill Road in the Borough.

Joe Scalise, Kennett Square borough manager, said the sidewalks will make foot travel safer.

“There are people either using the railroad tracks or walking alongside the street,” he said. “A sidewalk there is pretty well needed.”

Moore said the sidewalks will be constructed of concrete, and will not have the decorative qualities that Kennett Square’s Cypress Street sidewalks have.

The contractor is Plymar Construction and the project should be completed by Christmas.

The sidewalks are mainly being funded by a State grant in the amount of $850,000.

FRAN MAYE – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Workers begin construction on a sidewalk that will connect the western edge of Kennett Square to the New Garden Shopping Center.