Tuesday, November 25, 2008 9:42 PM CST
College student launches sidewalk program for safety of Neoga residents
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
NEOGA — Walking in someone else’s shoes is one thing, but a Neoga college student thinks it’s better to start by giving that person a path to walk on.
Her compassion has blossomed into a fundraising drive to build a sidewalk along U.S. Route 45 north of Neoga, for the benefit of mobile home park residents who currently must travel along the busy roadway to and from downtown.
“You drive through town on (Route) 45 a lot, and you see little kids riding bikes, women pushing strollers and people in wheelchairs” on the edge of highway, said Anne Walk, a Neoga native and graduate student at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
“This is not fair ... There’s hardly even a shoulder there.”
Two years ago, Walk, an EIU undergraduate student at the time, decided to take action. She enlisted the aid of her father, Neoga High School teacher Doug McClure, and they began discussions with the city of Neoga and the Illinois Department of Transportation about the feasibility of constructing a sidewalk where none exists now: from 11th Street to the Neoga Estates mobile home park, parallel to Route 45.
“This seems like an obvious thing that should be done,” said Walk.
The First Christian Church of Neoga is overseeing the fundraising, and the project has received “tentative” approval from the city and IDOT, McClure said.
“My daughter came storming into the house one day, irate,” said McClure. “She said, ‘It’s absolutely unfair those people living in the trailer court have to walk along the highway.’”
He added he is somewhat abashed that neither he nor anyone else thought to take such initiative sooner.
“My daughter, she has a really big heart; she has a real passion for helping people,” he said. “It’s something that was obvious and staring us in the face, but it took somebody more sensitive than me to jump on it, I guess.”
He and his daughter first approached city officials and the Neoga City Council about building the sidewalk. Then McClure and Walk consulted with an IDOT engineer, who said there was a “good chance” the project was feasible, McClure said.
Then they did some shopping for contractors. McClure said a Mattoon concrete company estimated the sidewalk would cost about $10,000.
Walk and McClure returned to the city council and obtained permission to begin raising funds, McClure said. Already, a Neoga organization has pledged $3,000 to the cause, he said.
“Now we’re hoping the local churches, local organizations will get behind it and we can get this done next spring or next summer,” McClure said.
Authorized representatives from IDOT and the city of Neoga could not be reached for comment.
Matthew Crossman, youth pastor at First Christian Church, said the sidewalk is “definitely” needed, and he commended a lay person for launching the project.
“I think that’s the best way to do things,” he said. “They know where the greatest needs are — they know the community, they know the people.”
Their effort now has a name: “The Unity Project.”
“It seemed like a good idea,” said Walk, “a way for the community to come together with the church (and) work toward a purpose, a common goal.”
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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