WC Prof Headed Committee to Improve Pedestrian and Bicycle Pathways at Fairfield Local Schools
Wilmington College's Dr. Corey Cockerill played a leadership role in Fairfield Local School District landing nearly $300,000 to make safety improvements to pedestrian and bicycle pathways along the school complex.
PICTURED: Dr. Corey Cockerill is pictured speaking with Ohio Ag Net Radio's Dale Minyo in 2019 during the College's Agriculture Visit Day.
She chairs the Safe Routes to School Committee in Leesburg, where her children attend Fairfield Local. The district received a $293,000 Ohio Dept. of Transportation (ODOT) grant to connect the school to its athletic complex and to an existing sidewalk along State Route 771 that leads to the village.
Cockerill, associate professor of communication arts and agriculture at WC, said the committee, which is comprised of local stakeholders, devised a plan whose goal was to "encourage and enable" students to walk or bike to school along safe pathways.
"We are a very active community, and one that is highly involved in school events," she said. "It's been the committee's goal to better connect the village to the school complex in a safe way with proper crossings."
The group used results from a publicly distributed parent survey, along with before- and after-school walk audits and traffic counts along SR 771 in front of the school, in assisting the school board apply for the grant.
"I'm over-the-moon excited our project was selected for ODOT funding," Cockerill added.
