Sidewalks expanding in Greensboro

Published 12:00 am Thursday, May 12, 2005

Pedestrians may find getting around Greensboro just a little easier in the near future.

The Greensboro City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday evening applying for a grant with the state Department of Transportation that will provide new sidewalks and landscaping for the city.

“The sidewalks will run along Highway 14 to Highway 69,” City Clerk Lorrie Cook said Wednesday.

Email newsletter signup

While the funds have yet to be awarded, Cook doubts that there would be any difficulty in obtaining the grant.

“No, I don’t think so,” she said.

Cook added that the sidewalks would go a long way towards beautifying the area and would encourage pedestrian activity.

The resolution is the second recent positive development for Greensboro pedestrians, after the Council approved a grant at their April 28 meeting that will create a recreational area and walking trail.

In other news from the Tuesday City Council meeting:

* The Council gave a $1000 allotment to the Greensboro Civil Rights museum. “We very much appreciate the support the Council has shown for the museum in the past and we hope to see it continue this year,” said an official from the museum. The Council were also invited to take a personal tour of the museum whenever they wished.

* The Council asked for help from the city’s residents in its continuing efforts to rid the city of dilapidated eyesore buildings and junk automobiles. Council member Janice Jemison said that the Council was working diligently to reinstate the city’s Abatement Board, the body that handles these issues, and that any resident with a complaint about a building or junk car should contact their district’s representative on the Council. “We need the citizens’ input on this issue,” Jemison said.

* Council member Valada Paige Banks offered her thanks for the Greensboro Volunteer Fire Department’s quick response when her home caught fire one recent evening. “I would just like to commend our Fire Department for the very good job they did,” Paige Banks said. “They did respond quickly and it made a big difference….they were there before I’d even finished talking to the dispatcher!” Paige Banks said that while the home did sustain damage, it would have been worse without the rapid arrival from the VFD.

* The Council’s next meeting was rescheduled from Tuesday May 24 to Wednesday May 25.