Students get chance to weigh in on sidewalk

It looks like students at Potomac High School will have a forum to lobby the county government for money to build a sidewalk on Panther Pride Drive.

In November the Prince William County Board of Supervisors will appropriate money for safety improvements and one contending project is the sidewalks at the high school.

Prince William Supervisor Maureen Caddigan, R-Dumfries and Betty Covington, the Dumfries district representative on the county School Board, have been trying to find money to build the $800,000 sidewalk.

“So many parents and residents have talked about the safety because that is a windy road and there’s nowhere to walk,” Covington said. “We’re always concerned about the safety of the kids, especially when they’re walking along dangerous roads and crossing dangerous streets.”

If the sidewalk is built, it will add to a string of existing and proposed sidewalks from U.S. 1 to the high school where many students walk to and from for school and extracurricular events.

Caddigan has one of eight votes on the board who will decide if the sidewalk should be funded.

“I can’t say the funds are there until the board approves it, but they are sensitive to the issue,” Caddigan said.

The board will vote in November on how to spend money in the fund that is dedicated to various pedestrian-related safety improvements.

How well do you know the region’s rail system?

An anonymous reader (who suggested some of us need a transit 101 course) offered a tip last week on how to take rail from Prince William or Manassas to Eisenhower Avenue. Hop on a VRE train to the Alexandria Station, which is located at the King Street Metrorail station where riders can pick up a yellow line train to Eisenhower Avenue.

Send signal questions or report an issue to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Traffic Center: call 703-383-VDOT, write NOVAinf[email protected] ginia.gov or visit virginiadot.org/travel/citizen.asp

For the latest road conditions, call 511 from any telephone in Virginia.