MOUNT VERNON — City council members are continuing efforts to increase the safety of children walking to school on Martinsburg Road.
On Monday, they voted to apply for a Safe Routes to School grant through the Ohio Department of Transportation. The city will use the funds to install additional sidewalks and flashing beacons throughout the neighborhood.
The city used a $328,000 ODOT grant to fund Phase 1 of a three-phase safety project.
Assistant City Engineer Quentin Platt said the city originally believed it would have to complete Phase 1 before asking ODOT for additional funding.
“They said actually, this would be a great time to go ahead and submit an application for the next round,” Platt said. “So we’re looking at Phases 2 and 3 in this next application.”
Similar to the Phase 1 application, Platt will ask ODOT to fund 50 percent of Phases 2 and 3.
“When we applied two years ago, ODOT had just recently increased the Safe Routes to School maximum grant amount to $500,000. This year, they doubled that. So we can now ask for up to $1 million in grant funding,” he said.
Platt said ODOT identified the area as high-priority.
“If you look at the ODOT active transportation need map, this is identified as a Level 3 out of 4. Which is really good. That gives us some extra points there,” he explained.
In 2025, the city recorded five pedestrian or pedal cycle-related incidents in the area.
“Last year was not a good year for pedestrian incidents within two miles of these schools. But hopefully that will put some wind under our sales and help them give us a little money to get this done,” Platt said.
Phase 1 construction planned for this year
The city has already taken several steps to increase safety in the neighborhood.
“The school zone’s been extended. We’ve got the solar-powered speed limit signs up and some rapid flashing beacons up. We’re just looking to kind of expand that out and get the whole neighborhood in there,” Platt said.
Phase 1 includes a sidewalk from Riley Street to Ames Street, six crosswalks and two flashing beacons on Martinsburg Road, and a connecting sidewalk from Martinsburg Road to Yellow Jacket Drive.
“It’s time to invest in this part of the city. We’ve done walks in other parts of the city; it’s time to do some of this in the First Ward.”
first ward councilman james mahan
Currently, the sidewalk on Yellow Jacket Drive ends at South Division Street. Plans call for installing a crossing across South Division Street, with the sidewalk extending to Martinsburg Road.
The sidewalk will be on the west side of Division Street because the city does not have right-of-way on the east side.
Additionally, an east-side route would traverse a parking lot.
Council members gave a second reading to legislation authorizing the city to send out a Request for Qualifications for construction services for Phase 1.
However, the city cannot award a bid or begin construction until after July 1 because the Phase 1 ODOT funds are in the ODOT Fiscal Year 2026-27.
Because of the sidewalk project, the city previously said it would chip seal some of the neighborhood streets this year rather than use asphalt.
Property owners will be responsible for snow removal and maintenance on the new sidewalks.
Councilman Mel Severns suggested the administration notify the owners that they now have a sidewalk and that the city expects them to keep it clear for students walking to school.
Safety measures in Phases 2 and 3
Council members suspended the third reading and included the emergency clause in the application legislation because the deadline is March 6. The application will include Phase 2 and 3 safety measures.
Phase 2 includes:
•Extending sidewalk on South Main to Pine.
•Installing a sidewalk on Pine Street between South Main and Martinsburg Road.
•Extending the Riley and Spruce streets sidewalks to Martinsburg Road.
•Installing a flashing beacon and crosswalk at Roosevelt and South Main, and at Newark Road and Spruce Street
•Installing crosswalks at Pine and Newark Road and on Salem Street at Riley and Spruce.
Phase 3 improvements include:
•Installing a sidewalk on Parrott Street between South Main and Martinsburg Road
•Connecting the Phase 2 sidewalk on South Main from Pine Street to existing sidewalk just north of Parrott Street
•Crossings on South Main Street at Pine, Spruce, and Delano
•Crossings on Newark Road at Delano and Parrott streets
‘Get this done’
Safety for students in the Pine to Ames streets neighborhood who walk to and from the middle and high schools and career center has been a chronic issue.
It came to a head in October 2023 when parents asked for increased safety after a car hit a youngster crossing Martinsburg Road.
Following up on the parents’ concerns, city officials walked the neighborhood at 7 a.m. as students arrived at school. They experienced firsthand the lack of sidewalks and lighting.
“It was interesting with all of us going into the school and not just taking their word for it, but experiencing it on the ground,” Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers said on Monday.
“This project came about because people not only saw a need, but they contacted us. … And their local government heard them, and we did something about it, and you’ve already seen stuff happen in that neighborhood.”
“Thank you for bringing this stuff to our attention,” he told the viewing public. “We do listen, we do as much as we can as quickly as we can.”
Councilman James Mahan lives in the area and noted the number of students walking on streets without sidewalks and crossing at inappropriate places because they have to walk through yards to reach a crosswalk.
“I appreciate engineering’s work on getting these grants, and I recommend that we do this as quickly as possible, pass this legislation that we need to pass, get the grant and get this done,” he said.
