AGENDA #5a
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Petition Requesting Sidewalk on Seawell School Road
DATE: February 25, 2002
This memorandum is in response to a petition to the Town Council requesting a new sidewalk on a portion of Seawell School Road adjacent to the Homestead Village neighborhood.
At the January 28, 2002 Town Council meeting, Mr. Kenneth J. Vetters, on behalf of the Homestead Village Homeowners Association, asked the Council to make a series of pedestrian improvements along a portion of Seawell School Road in order to provide safe access for the children in the Homestead Village development to the three schools across Seawell School Road.
DISCUSSION
The primary request of the petition was for new sidewalk along the east side of Seawell School Road, from Savannah Terrace to the intersection of Seawell School Road and High School Road, a stretch of approximately 500 feet. The petition further requests construction of a formal marked school crossing at this location, as well as funding and planning for the placement of a traffic signal at the intersection, operable during school crossing periods. The petition also notes that ultimately, the sidewalk on the east side of Seawell School Road should be extended north to the intersection with Homestead Road.
The requested project is not currently listed on the Town’s sidewalk priority list, though a longer project on the western side of Seawell School Road is listed. Because the project is not currently on the priority list, we have not yet evaluated the project based on the criteria in the adopted ranking system. Typically, the Council reviews the annual Sidewalks and Bicycle Facilities Construction Plan in the fall of each year and selects projects for funding at that time.
Sidewalk funding for the 2001-2002 fiscal year has already been allocated, and we do not anticipate having any funds left over from the four projects approved by Council in November 2001. We have not developed a cost estimate for the requested improvements.
We will place the requested sidewalk project on the sidewalk priority list for evaluation with other projects in the fall of 2002, and prepare a cost estimate for the requested improvements.
1. Petition from Jan. 28, 2002.