Neighbors seek SVUSD support to finish Highway 12 work

Tuesday night’s school board meeting was rife with comments from Springs-area neighbors and business owners disgruntled over the discontinuation of redevelopment funds for the Highway 12 improvement project.  Reading from a letter written by Steven Cox, chair of the Springs Community Alliance and former chair of the Springs Redevelopment Advisory Committee, Springs’ business-owner Rich Lee appealed to the Sonoma Valley Unified School District for their help in moving the project forward, despite the lack of funding.

Cox and the Alliance are seeking support from the SVUSD in the form of a letter to the Oversight Board, the group that will decide on the possible continuation of projects left hanging when redevelopment funds dried up in February.  Cox is looking for the school district to lend voice to the need for sidewalks and lighting along the Highway 12 corridor, one of the largest Safe Routes to School projects in the area.  Left unfinished are the portions closest to Flowery and Sonoma Charter schools.

“If the funding to finish this project is approved, we have the opportunity to turn a very dangerous stretch of road into a bike and pedestrian-friendly corridor,” said Cox in his letter.

County superintendent of schools, Dr. Steven Herrington is one member of the 7-member Oversight Board which meets this Thursday morning.  Recommendations for project funding are due to the state by April 15.