Submitted photo The final product will be a 5-foot wide, 700-foot-long sidewalk that will run from the school alongside the road to the Highland Park Apartments.

ELKINS — Just before the 4th of July holiday weekend, construction began in the Highland Park neighborhood to solve a safety problem for North Elementary School and community.

In 2010, North Elementary School was annexed into the city of Elkins and became the only elementary school without safe sidewalk access.

Due to this lack of safe access, parents who are within walking distance have had to drive their children to school. Concern for pedestrian safety was identified and thus, began the plan that is coming to fruition this summer.

In 2012, the Randolph County Housing Authority facilitated a community meeting where area residents and North School parents identified the safety concerns in the neighborhood.

RCHA may be known in the area for housing, but the organization has several other areas in their mission statement, including Community Development.

Under that mission, RCHA set out to collaborate with several stakeholders to devise a solution to address the safety concerns. RCHA conducted walkability studies and gathered support from local residents. Next, grant applications were submitted to, and funds were awarded by The Snowshoe Foundation and The Tucker County Community Foundation. The Randolph County Board of Education, the Randolph County Commissions and North Elementary School also stepped up to providing match funding.

The collaboration on this sidewalk continues: RCHA partnered with the WV Department of Highways state and local offices to develop a plan for the sidewalk that will provide safe pedestrian access to North Elementary School.

The City of Elkins is a big contributor as well by providing the labor and managing the construction of the project.

The final product will be a 5-foot wide, 700 foot-long sidewalk that will run from the school alongside the road to the Highland Park Apartments.

A crosswalk will also be installed to provide safe crossing of Old Leadsville Road.

“This project has been quite a collaboration of area stakeholders. I know that representatives from each of our partners, especially the staff at North Elementary School and members of the Highland Park neighborhood will be very excited to see this project reach completion,” stated RCHA Project Manager, Heather Croson.

Construction is expected to continue through mid-August.

For more information about the Randolph County Housing Authority, visit the website at www.rchawv.org.