A recent student population density survey in the Esko School District showed that a large percentage of school children live within half a mile of the school. And yet, some have to walk on the shoulder of a major highway to get there.
Ellen Pillsbury, senior planner for the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC), updated members of the Carlton County Committee of the Whole Tuesday on a proposed trail project that would make walking to school much safer for Esko school children.
She explained the Midway Division Trail, a proposed .7-mile paved walkway leading from Maple Drive to Canosia Drive, was identified last spring as the top priority by the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Committee, a coalition of Esko Public School staff, administration, township representatives, parents and community members. The group has been working toward increasing the safety of students walking and biking to school, and they first presented the idea of a trail way from the western neighborhoods of town to the school. The proposal was then sent to the SHIP (State Health Improvement Program) Active Communities Coalition for consideration.
Pillsbury said the trail would run along the south side of Highway 61, utilizing the existing pedestrian facilities on the bridge over Midway River and the highway right of way.
The estimated cost of the project would be $288,300 if constructed by 2015, and Pillsbury explained the group is currently exploring funding options. She said the group agreed the engineering work should be addressed first, which she said would cost an estimated $60,000. Possible funding sources might include the Lake Superior Coastal Grant program and/or the Department of Natural Resources Trail Grant program. Pillsbury indicated there are also various federal grant programs that could be applied for that could fill whatever gap might exist in whatever local funding is secured.
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After funding is secured for engineering costs, Pillsbury said application for a construction grant would be made, likely through the Transportation Enhancement Program. That particular grant funding, however, requires an 80/20 match and will only cover up to $500,000.
Pillsbury said the group is currently looking at timelines for grant applications and building community support for the project through the coalition. She went on to say that the county is the only local entity through which the Esko group can request funding and asked the county to consider acting as fiscal agent so they can get the needed funding in place.
County Transportation Director Wayne Olson brought up the point that with grant funding of such a project, there has to be an alternate source of funding available to cover any possibly cost overruns during the construction of the project. He also advised that some entity must be willing to step forward to maintain the trail after it is built.
No action was taken on the proposal at Tuesday's meeting. The coalition is hoping Thomson Township will take action on the project sometime during August, followed by a county resolution in support of it in September in order to meet grant application deadlines later this fall.
A similar paved walking trail was constructed a few years ago leading from the school north along Canosia Road to the school's practice and playing fields and bus barns. Esko student Kristin Burkholder was hit by a pickup truck while walking to track practice on the shoulder of Canosia Road several years ago and later died of her injuries.
