‘Safe Routes’ advances

Manager: project first proposed in 2008 could be finished next summer

NORTH WALES » Another big hurdle has been cleared, and a timeline is coming into focus for North Wales to finally finish its ‘Safe Routes to School’ sidewalk project.

“If everything goes well, construction bids will go out in late spring, and construction will happen in the summer,” said Borough Manager Christine Hart.

When council replied with a round of applause, she replied: “It’s been 10 years — don’t clap yet.”

Discussions began in 2008 on a federally funded project to fill in gaps in sidewalks on Washing-

ton Avenue, Fairview Avenue and West Prospect Avenue for students walking to North Wales Elementary School. Grant funds were secured for that project in 2009, and several borough administrations have been working since then to finish securing access rights to property belong to residents along the route.

Hart gave an update during council’s Nov. 28 meeting, and said the borough’s engineering consultant McMahon Associates has been able to get permission from PennDOT to reconfigure the design slightly, to remove one right-of-way at the corner of West and Washington where a resident had chosen not to sign off.

“We have now redesigned that, and PennDOT has approved it,” she said.

Two other properties on

Main Street have also been removed from the plans, and PennDOT has confirmed that those changes and all of the corresponding paperwork is in order.

“We still had a handful of rights-of-way that weren’t signed off, and now we’re done with all of that process,” said Hart.

Over the past few months, Hart said, rightsof-way from the North Wales Area library and the St. Rose of Lima school and church complex have also been finalized, which will allow McMahon to lock down the plans.

“We needed to get that (finished) to get to the plans,” she said.

More information will be updated at future council meetings as the project progresses, according to the manager. North Wales Borough Council next meets at 7 p.m. on Dec. 12 at the borough municipal building, 300 School St. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www. NorthWalesborough.org.