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Improving roads throughout the city of Winchester has been on the minds of those serving the Winchester City Commission. 

Discussions during the meeting on Tuesday, June 17, highlighted such prioritization. 

Members of the Winchester City Commission were presented with information during a work session pertaining to future improvements at Boone Avenue, and a separate Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Grant that would also benefit the city. 

Speaking of the first matter was Rob Jeffries, Planning and Community Development Director for the City of Winchester. 

Jeffries is one of several committee members formed to help oversee a quick-build project that utilizes a $20,000 grant from Smart Growth America, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating strong neighborhoods in multiple ways. 

Currently, Winchester is one of just three communities – along with Morehead and Bowling Green – partaking in the organization’s Complete Street Leadership Academy, a program seeking to educate others about both Complete Streets, creating projects in local communities, and more. 

“I want to make sure that our routes to schools, our routes to…facilities [and] different areas in our community are safe and welcome to all,” he said. “This grant is going to be used for Boone Avenue. There are two intersections along Boone Avenue that we’re trying to focus on, and that’s the College Street intersection and the Belmont intersection…a Complete Street is designed for everyone…[where] our streets are safe and accessible to all users, [and] provides multiple modes of transportation.” 

Among other improvements, the “quick-build” project that the committee seeks to implement will utilize low-cost improvements using a variety of materials. 

Suggestions for improvements, which were obtained during a public workshop in June, have included adding rumble strips, painting crosswalks, and implementing a four-way stop at the intersection of College and Boone Avenue. 

Current project plans include adding bike lanes along Boone Avenue from Maple Street to Belmont Avenue, while handicap-accessible ramps would get installed for improved access to individuals such as those with mobility issues. 

The committee is currently in the planning phase of the project, with installation aimed to begin in August. 

In addition, a separate update was provided by Alyshia Martin, who serves as grant coordinator for the City of Winchester. 

Martin is in the process of writing a proposal for a $250,000 Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and designed to develop a comprehensive Safe Routes to School Plan. 

As an 80/20 matching grant, $200,000 of the $250,000 would be funded by the USDOT. 

Without impacting the city’s budget, Martin proposed meeting the local match of $50,000 through numerous in-kind contributions. 

The grant would provide support in multiple ways, such as mapping student travel patterns and analyzing crash zone data, engaging families from underserved or limited-English populations, providing on-the-ground walk and bike assessment of all Clark County Public Schools, and more. 

“This is a planning grant, and this particular planning grant is an important first step as it is an essential first step to becoming eligible for much larger federal grants to complete this planning phase,” Martin said.