Dover, Ohio (WJER) - City leaders are doing their part to make sure students have a safe walk to class every day. 

Dover City Council has agreed to partner with the school district to join the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program. Council member Greg Bair says it’s a grant program that allows the city to enhance their infrastructure so students can walk to school safely.

“[We could] have better sidewalks, bicycle paths, and get them to walk,” he says. “I’m pretty pleased to endorse this.” 

Transportation Planner Kevin Buettner says the program would offer up to $400,000 for Dover to fix their sidewalks and even install them in areas that are currently lacking. He says they’ve already identified some of the problem areas that could benefit from the program including streets around Crater Stadium and the middle school area.

“[It’s] pretty multi-faceted. What we want to do is take care of things that we can take care of, and if it’s missing sidewalk or just some sidewalks need repaired because they’ve been overgrown, we would be able to address those needs,” he says.    

The city applied for the program through the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association  (OMEGA). If their application is approved by ODOT, the city would receive the money for that work during the next funding cycle in the summer.

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