by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Wellington is going to get more than three miles of new sidewalks in the community this spring thanks to the Federal Safe Routes to Schools Program.

Wellington received a $250,000 federal grant to build sidewalks located around the community’s four elementary schools (see map below)

“We need sidewalks everywhere,” said Larry Mangan, Wellington City Engineer who will be retiring in December. “We could have easily used four times the money to build sidewalks.”

Instead the city has prioritized the location of sidewalks based on its proximity to the elementary school buildings and the amount of traffic on the roads.

Sidewalk construction will begin next spring and the new concrete walkways could last anywhere from six to eight weeks. The city will bid out the project this winter to prospective contractors.

The city has mapped out those routes which will get the sidewalks first. In the map below, all routes in green will receive a new sidewalk. Depending on the amount of money left over the next priority will be the yellow routes. The orange routes will get the lowest priority.

Mangan said the denominator with this project is money. Sidewalks will be built until the federal money runs out. Thus the routes were prioritized, with the green routes getting the sidewalks first. If there is money left over, the yellow routes will be next and the orange routes last.

All routes that get a sidewalk started will get sidewalks completed, Mangan said.

Because there are so many other areas in town that need sidewalks, the City of Wellington will be applying for more federal grants. There is a sidewalk planned to connect Penny’s Diner with McDonald’s Restaurant on U.S. 160. But that is not part of this plan.

The Safe Routes to School program was authorized by the federal government on Aug. 10, 2005 to provide more safe walking and bicycle paths for children going to school. Wellington made an application in 2007, and heard word it would receive a $250,000 grant in 2010.

Where to use the money was the key. Mangan along with city employees Jamie Cornejo and Tracy Heath prioritized what areas of town were in most need of the sidewalks. They developed a point system in which areas closest to an elementary school and high traffic area got the most priority.

“We could have easily built every bit of sidewalks around Eisenhower Elementary,” Cornejo said. “But we wanted to sprinkle it out throughout the community.”

As one could see from the map, the sidewalk stretching from Eisenhower Elementary north on Plum will be the longest stretch of sidewalk. It is essential in that it will connect children living in the Wheat Ridge housing addition and those to the east.

Mangan said a city meeting was held on Sept. 16 with about 20 residents getting the new sidewalks on their property. The biggest concerns from residents was the cost of upkeep and potential liability.

“We want to make this project as seamless as possible to those affected by this project,” he said.

Green routes are highest priority of streets getting sidewalks. Yellow routes will get second priority and orange routes will get lowest priority.