Two school safety projects in Pueblo now underway, nearly completed after yearlong delay
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) — With the start of the new school year less than two weeks away, crews at two locations are scrambling to finish construction on safety projects.
Haaff Elementary School and Park View Elementary School received grants in 2022 and 2024, respectively, from the Safe Routes to School program administered by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).
The purpose of the grants is to increase safety, mobility, and visibility on pathways surrounding and leading to schools.
In the Pueblo grants, crews are building longer and wider sidewalks and curbs, and installing bike lanes and crosswalks; it’s all designed to make students and parents easier for drivers to see.
Construction began roughly a month ago, and officials said that both projects should be completed before students return to District 60 schools on Aug. 18.
The projects didn’t happen last summer as originally planned because the CDOT funding didn’t arrive in time to complete them before classes began.
Officials explained that the current work couldn’t happen until later this summer because that’s the earliest contractors could fit it into their schedules.
The grant for Haaff was for $176,000, and the grant for Park View was $328,000.
While most of the Haaff project is happening in front of the school, the Park View project encompasses five blocks along Monument Avenue between 7th and 12th streets.
Officials hope to apply for future grants that would make traffic improvements near Haaff at the Chinook Lane/Jerry Murphy Road intersection and extend the Park View upgrades south to 2nd Street.
An additional benefit of the current projects is that they are adjacent to parks and can be utilized by the general public.
Neighbors around the Park View project are eager to regain use of an alley behind their homes that is closed because of construction — meaning garbage trucks can’t pick up trash cans there.
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