Plans to improve pedestrian safety in two areas of town are getting a financial boost through grant funding.
Emporia has been working with the Healthier Lyon County Coalition on several projects for nearly a decade, including a plan to build sidewalks and safe pathways for pedestrians and cyclists at 12th and Burlingame and also 24th from Prairie to Lincoln. That project, which also includes a dedicated LCAT bus stop on East 12th near Burlingame, has now received a $100,000 Healthy Kansas grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield. The money will bolster the 2023 Sidewalk System Improvements Project, offering additional safety, better connections in these areas of Emporia and easier travel to healthy food options.
The grant award follows a memorandum of understanding reached between the city and Healthier Lyon County in early May. It also will serve as matching funds for KDOT’s $483,000 Transportation Alternatives grant awarded to the city last fall. The city’s funding share was estimated at just under $121,000 when the KDOT grant was announced in October.
