By Staff
CHEYENNE –The Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization will celebrate the grand opening of the Afflerbach Elementary Safe Route To School pathway from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on October 9 at the school located at 400 West Wallick Road.
Those attending will walk from Afflerbach Elementary to the start of the pathway for a Ribbon Cutting and Pathway Decoration at 5:45 p.m. Attendees will then retrace steps back to Afflerbach gym for the remainder of the event.
The event is for Afflerbach elementary students and their families, school staff, as well as the neighborhood residents.
The evening events include speakers, ribbon cutting ceremony, winners of the active transportation contest, silent raffle for students, and dinner served by Texas Roadhouse. Other activities include a dance contest, hula hoop contest, craft stations and much more.
The Cheyenne Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2010 Safe Routes to School Plan was used as a guide for an application for a 100 percent funding infrastructure grant in 2011 through the Safe Routes To School program at the Wyoming Department of Transportation for Afflerbach Elementary. A grant of $200,000 was awarded in 2013 and the project began final design and construction.
Afflerbach School serves neighborhoods to the south that didn’t have walking corridors to allow students to walk to school without going through fields. The streets through this area had been platted, but never built. The project blossomed to something bigger when the County decided to build Avenue B2 at the same time. Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power installed street lights all along the approximate one-quarter mile to make the area a safe corridor for all.
“During the first week of school, the MPO staff took pathway use counts from South Fork to Wallick Road where Afflerbach is located. Thirty one to 55 students were counted walking alone, using wheelchairs, riding bikes or scooters, walking in groups, or walking with parents,” said Nancy Olson, MPO Transportation Planner.
For more information, contact the MPO at 638-4385.
