The City of Winfield partnered with RISE Cowley to complete a $102,000 new pedestrian pathway along 19th Avenue from Andrews Street to Menor Street. A total of 50 percent matching funds were provided in a grant from RISE Cowley as a part of the Pathways to a Healthy Kansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS).
To commemorate the project’s completion, representatives from the Winfield Area Chamber of Commerce, City of Winfield, RISE Cowley, and BCBSKS held a ribbon cutting on Monday.
“This project is about connections,” said City of Winfield Manager Taggart Wall. “We’re enhancing access to a necessary food source while increasing walkability and safety. We’re also connecting our citizens to more opportunities to be active, such as the walking paths and fit trail.”
The new six-foot sidewalk along 19th Avenue allows for safe pedestrian access to the grocery center and other community areas, including the downtown commercial center and the Broadway Sports Complex.
Wall explained that the new sidewalks improve vehicular and pedestrian safety by separating pedestrians from the roadway and drainage in Winfield’s busiest commercial area where an estimated 5,000 vehicles use the road each day. “I’ve seen people dragging their groceries through the street after a hard rain. This will help alleviate that inconvenience for those on foot.”
The project also helps connect the recently completed Broadway Sports Complex Trail – a paved path constructed under a Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks grant – and the west levee system trails.
RISE Cowley is a coalition of like-minded organizations dedicated to making Cowley County a healthier place to live, work, and play.
“Providing access regardless of transportation and income means is essential to improving the health outcomes in our county,” noted current RISE Cowley president Sarah Johnson. “This project exemplifies what our coalition and Pathways is all about.”
