Tallmadgeexpress.com - Mayor sees sidewalks as solution to safety concerns

by Amanda Harnocz

Reporter

Tallmadge -- Spring seems to be within arm's reach, but until then, residents are still going through obstacle courses of snow while commuting on foot in Tallmadge. More sidewalks may be the answer, says the mayor.

Mayor Christopher Grimm said the situation is dangerous right now, especially for students walking to bus cluster stops, but feels the insufficient sidewalks in the city is not only a problem during the winter.

"This problem of a kid having to walk to a stop on a street that is busy with open ditches and mailboxes out there and obstructions and so forth, it is not a snow problem," he said. "This is an everyday problem."

The mayor admitted the city has tried to keep a rural look and said he doesn't plan to "Akronize" the city, but said he is more concerned with pedestrians mainly now because of the cluster stops for school busing.

"God help us the first time some poor kid gets hit by a car," Grimm said.

The mayor said he and Superintendent Jeff Ferguson decided to get a committee together to plan how to create a "trail-like" system so children can safely walk on a sidewalk to these cluster stops.

"The real problem is on main thoroughfares and there are a lot of allotments that don't have sidewalks and that is a burden on some people," said Grimm.

The committee will be made up of City Councilmembers, school district officials and bus employees, he said.

Councilmember Gene Stalnaker and Vice President Linda Poinar said they felt the problem was more of a short-term problem during the heavy snow storms in the winter.

"When you get together, please include in the plan a plan to clean the sidewalks or at least get them cleared," Stalnaker asked of the mayor.

If the sidewalks come to fruition, Grimm said the city "may help plow."

Poinar suggested that the bus department consider different stops in the winter when there is a lot of snow, to make it more safe for the children.

"A few weeks out of the whole year ... maybe a month and I think it is totally ignorant to not think about safety first for these weeks when we have a foot or more of snow covering sidewalks and throwing children into the street," she said.

The mayor also mentioned that having common areas for children to safely wait for the bus was something being looked into as well.

E-mail: aharnocz@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-686-3911