Leesburg city leaders seek state grant to fund sidewalks near elementary school

LEESBURG, Fla. – City leaders are hoping to garner public support as they pursue a state grant that would fund nearly 2 1/2 miles of sidewalks near Beverly Shores Elementary School.

Leesburg City Manager Al Minner said the $493,000 project would be funded entirely through the Safe Routes to School grant. City leaders are expected to go through details of the proposal at a meeting Tuesday night.

As part of the proposal, 12 streets would have sidewalks installed, including Oak Drive, Peters Drive and Perkins Street.

A map of the proposed sidewalks. (WKMG 2019)

"We can catch a lot of sidewalks easily, and it's an area where it's high traffic and high pedestrian walk area because of the school," Minner said.

For those in the area, like resident Debbie Castillo, it can be a dangerous area for pedestrians.

“I love to walk sidewalks, I don’t love walking in the street because the cars speed,” she said.

The Safe Routes to School program is a federally funded program, administered through the Florida Department of Transportation.

City leaders in Leesburg are expected to find out this summer if their grant application was approved. If it moves forward, construction could begin around the middle of 2021.

That public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Faith Community Church at 1107 Griffin Road. To learn more, click here.


About the Author:

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

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