The city of Sulphur has recently completed a second project to help children walking to school get there safely, Mayor Chris Duncan said.

He said the city applies for grants through the Department of Transportation and Development’s Safe Routes to School program to repair or rebuild sidewalks that lead to and around elementary schools to ensure a safe route for students who walk or ride bicycles to school.

The city completed its Frasch Elementary sidewalk rehabilitation project this month, replacing sidewalks around the perimeter of the school on Huntington, Church, Bryan and Ruth streets.

“The sidewalks around the school had buckled, and we have a lot of kids that walk to Frasch and use these sidewalks,” Duncan said. “We applied for the grant through the Safe Routes program so that we can see to it that these kids have sidewalk to get to school safely.”

The total cost of the project was $164,375, Duncan said, and DOTD funded $70,400 through the Safe Routes grant.

The next phase the city is applying to receive grant money for includes sections of Pearl and South Stanford streets.

The estimated cost for Pearl and South Stanford streets is $175,026, and the city is requesting a $146,480 grant from the DOTD.

The first sidewalk rehabilitation project included areas around E.K. Key Elementary, where sidewalks along North Burton Street and sections of Lewis Street were repaired.

The project, completed in August, cost $277,683, with the DOTD providing $130,000. Duncan said the difference was paid through the city’s sidewalk rehabilitation fund.

“Every year we apply for these grants,” he said. “Sometimes we get them and sometimes we don’t. As long as the grant is available we are going to continue to submit these projects so that we can get the sidewalk to our elementary schools fixed.”

(Michael Cooper / American Press)