Oswego School Board to take action on hazardous walking route study

The Oswego School District 308 Board members in May will review and act on the results of a study that examined potential hazardous walking routes for students.

The school district, as required by Illinois School Code, is required to provide transportation to students if a hazardous crossing (as deemed by a traffic study) exists on the route to school. Last year, the School Board approved a contract with Eriksson Engineering Associates Ltd. to conduct a hazardous walking route assessment for the district.

Walking along a roadway, walking on a roadway, crossing a roadway and crossing railroad tracks are four types of serious safety hazards which students walking to school encounter.

The Illinois Department of Transportation manual outlines a point system that identifies and weighs different considerations in determining if a route or crossing is considered hazardous. Those factors include the student’s grade level as well as the location, condition and width of the walkway relative to the adjacent road as well as the speed, traffic control and volume of traffic on the road.

“One of the things we are doing is working with the village on creating safe walk paths,” District Transportation Director LaShone Mosley told board members during their April 28 meeting.

Oswego School District, the village of Oswego and the Oswego Township Road District are sharing the cost of installing a sidewalk to ensure that students can walk safely from Ogden Falls subdivision to Oswego East High School.

Ogden Falls subdivision is located north of the high school campus. Currently, there is no sidewalk or other pedestrian or bicycle path extending from Ogden Falls to the high school campus.

As proposed, the three government bodies would share equally in the installation of a multi-use path adjacent to Harvey Road and extending from Ogden Falls to the high school’s bus entrance. The project is estimated to cost $360,000.

The village plans to complete the project by the end of 2025.

The board plans to take action at its May 12 meeting on what areas should be considered hazardous and then plans to submit the list of hazardous areas to IDOT for approval. On June 2, the district plans to communicate with all families affected by changes to bus service.

The district in June and July plans to conduct town hall meetings regarding any changes to its list of hazardous areas. It plans to provide route information to all eligible students on or before Aug. 1.