GOSNELL -- The Gosnell School District, in conjunction with the city of Gosnell, will soon begin construction on a new sidewalk with $36,418 in grant money awarded to them through the Safe Routes to School program.
Following a student fatality last year on the Airbase Highway, the school district and city government pursued the grant money to construct a safer way for students to walk to school in the area.
The new sidewalk will stretch from Memorial Drive at the entrance to the airbase down the east side of Airbase Highway to the northernmost entry at Gosnell Elementary. A crosswalk will be added at its end, and flashing beacons will be placed at the crosswalk and at both ends of the school zone.
The Safe Routes to School grants are awarded through the Arkansas Highway Department, and Carpenter will attend a workshop next week in Little Rock put on by the department for administration of its grant money. He said that after the workshop, city officials should be able to announce when construction on the project will begin.
School Superintendant Bonard Mace and Royce Carpenter, Gosnell's city code enforcement officer, the construction of this stretch of sidewalk is just a starting point for creating better paths for students to walk on their way to and from the school campuses.
sharris@blythevillecourier.com