A school safety project that’s been in the works for decades has earned a $2 million dollar grant. The South Umpqua School District won an Oregon Department of Transportation “Safe Routes to School” award. Jessica Hand is with Thrive Umpqua, a group that helped gather local input. She said the money will be used to improve sidewalks and add bike lanes and a flashing crosswalk at Canyonville School. ”There’s certain stretches where there’s no sidewalk at all, where kids are walking literally in ditches or right on the shoulder of the road next to cars," she said. "So walking that with public works and some of the community leaders, it was really nerve wracking.”
Hand said Douglas County will pitch in $1.3 million dollars for the project. Only two of the 43 statewide winners received the full $2 million dollars. Smaller area grants went to Howard Elementary in Eugene, Siuslaw Middle School in Florence, and Lundy Elementary in Lowell.
An interactive map of all the grant winners is available here.
