PEA RIDGE — Sidewalks in town have provided a safer place for people to walk and as the city has grown, streets have been widened and curbs added, city officials have requested sidewalks be constructed and crosswalks painted. More sidewalks may be constructed if funds become available.

City Street Department employees recently painted crosswalks at the intersection of Mc-Culloch and Weston streets just south of three schools.

State law requires vehicle drivers to yield the right of way to pedestrians in a marked crosswalk and prohibits other vehicles from passing vehicles stopped for pedestrians.

“We encourage the citizens and children to utilize the crosswalks.

They’re there for their convenience. State law does require that vehicles yield the right of way within a crosswalk,” Police Chief Tim Ledbetter said.

There are several crosswalks in town, mostly on the north side of town near schools. Pedestrians should still watch for oncoming traffic, Ledbetter said.

The city has recently applied for a grant for funds from the Arkansas Highway Department for sidewalks, according to Mayor Jackie Crabtree. The grant, for $133,500, is under the Arkansas Transportation Enhancement Program.

“It’s an 80/20 program. Twenty percent of the funds would be paid by the city,” Crabtree said, explaining that citizens had approached him about wanting sidewalks to provide safe place for their children to walk from the City Park to the school grounds.

“This is something we’ve been working on for quite a while.

We’ve done the sidewalks from downtown along Curtis and from downtown to the school,” the mayor said. “We’ve been working on sidewalks since the ’90s.

The first sidewalk was from here (downtown) to the bank on Curtis.

“It allows more people to have an option of not driving,” Crabtree said, recalling that county prisoners provided much of the labor on the first sidewalks saving the city money in the construction phase.

The newest schematic calls for sidewalks on Hayden Road from the city park to the high school and along West Pickens (Arkansas Highway 94) from Standing Oaks to Givens subdivision and possibly on Slack Street (Arkansas Highway 72) from Weston to Curtis Avenue.

“We’re trying to expand on what we have,” Crabtree said. “As we grow and traffic increases, new issues arise.”

The sidewalk on the north side of town would connect Givens Subdivision, a new church, the ball fields at Blackjack corner and the school properties.

“We’re going to try to make it a little wider for bicycles,” Crabtree said.

State law requires bicyclists to observe the same traffic laws as vehicles. The police chief said it is understandable that young children ride their bicycles on sidewalks, and advised that theycross the streets only on crosswalks or intersections.

Crabtree said the sidewalk project is completely dependent on the state funding the project.

“We’re looking at ways to finance this. The reason we can apply for these grants is the sidewalks are actually on the highway enhancement property.

“We’re always looking for ways we can add sidewalks to different parts of town,” he said.

CROSSWALKS◊ Pickens St. at Davis St.

◊N. Curtis Ave. at Pickens St.

◊Pickens St. at N. Curtis Ave.

◊Pickens St. east of Hayden Rd.

◊Weston St. at Pickens St.

◊Greene St. at its west end◊Weston St. at Greene St.

◊McCulloch St. at its west end

◊ Weston St. at McCulloch St.

◊Hazelton Rd. atWeston St.

◊Weston St. at Slack St.

◊Weston St. at both entrances to the Little League ballfields

◊N. Curtis Ave. at McCulloch St.

◊N. Curtis Ave. in front of old First Baptist Church

News, Pages 1 on 09/08/2010