Hearing for school sidewalk proposal set for Oct. 2

WARWICK — The Village of Warwick, Town of Warwick and Warwick Valley School District will host an informational meeting Tuesday, Oct. 2, to review the joint grant application to create a safe sidewalk connection to Park Avenue School and the Warwick Middle School campus.
Representatives from the school district, village and town as well as Village Engineer Lehman & Getz will be on hand to give an overview of the application.
The school district has recently updated its limits on walking distances to .3 miles for children K-5 and .5 miles for children in grades 6-12. That is students who live within .3 miles to their elementary school, or within .5 miles of the middle or high school will be required to walk to school, and school transportation will be offered to those living beyond those distances.
According to information provided by the village, these walking/transportation guidelines provide a significant change from the previous guidelines which required the school district to provide transportation to all students living more than .1 mile from school.
With this change, the school district will enforce additional walking/biking as it will no longer provide school transportation to those living within .3 mile (elementary) or .5 mile (middle and high).
The Warwick Safe Walking Routes to School program will seek to promote safe, healthy alternatives to riding the bus or being driven to school. The program also will encourage children to walk and bike to school while at the same time looking to improve safety and reduce vehicular traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution around the Warwick Middle and Park Avenue Elementary schools.
The meeting opens at 7 p.m. in Warwick Town Hall at 132 Kings Highway.