Grant to help pay for projects: Kernersville plans work

By: John Hinton | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: November 28, 2008

Town officials plan to use grant money to help pay for sidewalk, bicycle-route and greenway projects in southern, northern and western Kernersville.

The town has a proposed $18,000 contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates to design a sidewalk on the east side of South Main Street from Century Boulevard to just north of Old Winston Road, said Brian Ulrich, a transportation engineer for Kernersville. The sidewalk will connect with an existing sidewalk on South Main Street.

The project will cost $153,282, and the town will be reimbursed 80 percent of the money from a federal grant. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2009 or in early 2010, Ulrich said.

The project is part of the town's pedestrian and bicycle plan that the Kernersville Board of Aldermen approved in March 2007. The plan's goals include extending the town's sidewalks, creating bicycle lanes on some roads and creating greenway trails along six creeks in Kernersville.

Cyclists also can ride their bikes along the greenways.

The town has plans to apply for a federal grant to help pay for a greenway along Kerners Mill Creek in western Kernersville, Richmond and Ulrich said. That project would cost about $100,000, and the trail would run from Hopkins Road to Salem Lake Park.

Sharon Richmond, the town's senior planner, said that town officials will carry out the plan in phases, which may take up to 25 years. The plan doesn't indicate an exact cost, and Richmond said that the town can apply for grants to help for pay for it.

The plan's cost may change because of fluctuating prices for oil for asphalt to widen roads for bike lanes and concrete for sidewalks, Richmond said.

In 2010, the town is likely to begin construction on a sidewalk that will connect Piney Grove Road on its west side from North Main Street to just north of Nelson Street, Ulrich said. The sidewalk will fill in the gaps along Nelson Street between Piney Grove Road and Pitt Street.

The project, which will cost $225,518, will include the widening of Piney Grove Road to accommodate bicycles, Ulrich said.

According to the plan, Kernersville has 48 miles of existing sidewalk, five miles of greenway easements and about 13 miles of bicycle routes.

In 2007, vehicles hit 12 pedestrians, injuring nine of them, Kernersville police statistics show.

Vehicles hit three cyclists, injuring one of them.

Hope Ann Snyder-Walsh of Winston-Salem, who lives near Kernersville, said that the town needs bike paths on its main roads.

Walsh, a sales manager at Paul's Cycling Fitness, said she often rides her bike on Kernersville Road as it becomes South Main Street in Kernersville. She rides on that road about 10 a.m. on weekdays when the traffic is lighter than it is during rush hour.

The town's bike plan would enhance the quality of life for Kernersville residents and also would benefit drivers because bike paths would make the roads safer for drivers and cyclists, Snyder-Walsh said.

The bike paths will provide recreation for people and "get them out of their cars," Snyder-Walsh said. "It is going to benefit everyone whether you ride a bike or not," she said.

• John Hinton can be reached 727-7299 or at jhinton@wsjournal.com.