SOMERS POINT — Residents of Somers Point Village Apartments are concerned about the safety of their children while walking to Jordan Road School.
Students from the complex have to walk because they are too close for courtesy busing as the crow flies.
Their journey takes them along Somers Point-Mays Landing Road and up Route 9 as it winds around Greate Bay Country Club, then down Laurel Drive. The beginning of the route has narrow shoulders in parts and intermittent sidewalks.
Zoila Laviena and Latitia Nunez asked for City Council’s help ensuring the safety of children walking to school.
“I am here to express our concern for the safety of our children,” Laviena said. “According to the Board of Education, there is not enough funding to provide transportation for all children. As a single mother, I feel that the rights of all children are not being considered.”
She said she understands the distance may be too short for busing but noted “the roads they must walk on are extremely dangerous.”
Laviena said there is heavy traffic in the morning, limited sidewalks and no crossing guards in some areas, creating “serious safety risks for children.”
“As parents we are deeply concerned that something tragic could happen while they are trying to get to school,” she said, requesting a change in transportation policy or a safe alternative such as a supervised pedestrian route.
While the busing policy is up to the Board of Education, City Council President Charlie Haberkorn said the city is seeking funding to add sidewalks.
Engineer Greg Schneider said the city has applied for a $350,000 grant for pedestrian safety improvements on the south side of Somers Point-Mays Landing Road.
He said the grade of the road would require a “fairly large” retaining wall along the majority of the walkway.
“So it’s not as easy as installing sidewalks, as typically is the case,” he said., noting the city is looking at different funding opportunities.
Schneider said the city expects to know within 30 days whether it has received the grant.
He also said Somers Point-Mays Landing Road is a county route and any work would have to be approved by Atlantic County.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff