CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City Council voted Tuesday to allow the public works department to apply for $1.3 million in state grant funding to build 2,500 feet of new sidewalk along London Pirate Road, also known as County Road 33, outside London Elementary School.
The grant application will be submitted next week, but an award decision is not expected until December.
The move comes after months of safety concerns raised by residents and the London Independent School District about the road, which currently lacks sidewalks and forces students to take alternate routes to reach the school safely.
Matthew Galvin, a London resident who first raised concerns about street safety in the area, said progress near his neighborhood has already been made following earlier conversations with district leadership.
"The very next day I got a call from the London ISD superintendent, and she kind of explained all of her plans on getting the safety features and the signage put in and I mean within 24 hours there [were] crews out here working on the roads, putting the signage up, putting on the crosswalks, so it was awesome," Galvin said.
Galvin said County Road 33 remains a problem that needs to be addressed.
"I think that's a great start, but I think that road itself is in need of much repair," Galvin said.
London ISD Interim Superintendent Amanda Barmore said the public works department conducted pedestrian studies that identified the need for a sidewalk connecting a back neighborhood to the elementary school.
"The public works department came out. They have been doing some pedestrian studies and then they felt that there was a need out here for the safety of our students to be able to bring a sidewalk from the back neighborhood all the way to the elementary school," Barmore said.
Barmore said the district has received strong support from parents, with more than 100 letters submitted in favor of the project.
"We've already received over 100 letters of support from our parents, just for the safety of our kids. Right now, they're having to go through a different neighborhood and come around the back to be able to get to school safely, because traveling down County Road 33 is just not safe without a sidewalk," Barmore added.
Despite the council's vote, some residents remain cautious after years of watching conditions on the road deteriorate without resolution.
"They're all excited, absolutely, but this has been an ongoing battle for years and years.So I think they're hopeful, but they're not too sure that it's going to happen," Galvin said.
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