Oklahoma Schools Ready Safety Projects

ENID, Okla. — Construction will begin this summer on a student drop-off and loading zone at Longfellow Middle School, officials announced. A blinking stop light at Randolph and 10th and a mid-block crossing in front of the school will also be installed.

The project is being funded by a $200,000 grant from the 2009-2010 Safe Routes to School Program awarded to middle schools to teach students safer ways for getting to and from school every day.

The city of Enid also committed $28,000 and engineering services to the project. The Enid Police Department and Enid schools are planning to promote awareness about walking and bicycling safety using these renovations.

Another construction project in the city, on the sidewalk from Cleveland to Oakwood at Waller Middle School, will also begin in 2011. That project was funded by a 2008 grant from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

The improvement projects are a result of the 2010 bond issue.
Safe Routes to School is a network of more than 500 nonprofit organizations, government agencies, schools and professionals that promote pedestrian travel and safety, reduced traffic congestion, improved air quality and neighborhood safety.