New Pathway Offers Roseville Students A Safer Route To School
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — A pedestrian pathway is giving students a safer way to get to school.
The path is a little over a mile long and was built after hundreds of letters from concerned parents and residents.
Students at nearby Creekview Ranch School helped celebrate the opening of the Cook Riolo Road Pedestrian Pathway on Thursday morning.
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Diane Howe's grandchildren went to Creekview, and when she saw students making the dicey walk to school on the shoulder of the weed-infested, two-lane Cook Riolo Road. She spearheaded a project to get a new pedestrian pathway built to keep them safe.
"I call it the pathway of dreams," she said. "The community is totally using it. The kids—we've already had to increase the bike racks at school by double, more than double."
Many Placer County officials say its' a change that's long overdue. Ken Grehm, the director of public works and facility with Placer County, pointed to the dangers of the road before the work was done.
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"An area that used to be just roadside ditches, not a lot of pavement. Kids actually have to be in the street in order to get to school," he said. "Now it's totally off street, drains separately so kids can get here safely."
While the pedestrian expressway was designed with students in mind, it's available for anyone on the community to use. So far, it seems to be making the grade with everyone.
"I love it. It absolutely saves on time and there are good sidewalks and they have a bike lane which is excellent," said resident Rastinlav Dobron.
The project cost $2.9 million. Of that, 88 percent came from federal funding while the remaining 12 percent was from local road funds.
