Workers are putting the finishing touches on a new crosswalk near Oxford Elementary School on Pontiac Street. Photo by Jim Newell

New crosswalk built near Oxford Elementary

By Megan Kelley
Review Writer
OXFORD – During its meeting on Oct. 10, the Oxford Village Council approved a bid from Birmingham Sealcoat in the amount of $25,433 for two crosswalk installations by a vote of 4-1, with Maureen Helmuth casting the lone nay vote.
The crosswalks are expected to be placed across W. Burdick Street at the intersection of Pleasant Street and another across Pontiac Street near Oxford Elementary School
The village only received one bid for the project, which village Manager Joe Madore credits to the lack of exposure on the project and lack of communication from MITTIN and BidNet, two organizations that aid in the posting and procurement of project bids.
Originally, the request for crosswalks came to the village as both a resident request as well as a council request, especially the one located near the elementary school.
“A lot of kids cut through the back of the church,” Madore said. “Somebody from the police department is down there every day and there is quite the flow of kids coming out of there. Even the principal down there, we met with him a year ago when it was snowing and they had some concerns about the kids crossing there. It would be nice to funnel them to a spot. It’s safer, it’s marked.”
The project was previously discussed by council several months ago, with the cost coming as quite a shock to most members of council.
The cost however, was negotiated down in recent months, coming out to about half the price the council had originally expected the project to cost.
However, because of the still relatively large cost, having only received one bid and with winter just months away, Madore suggested that council table the project and return to it sometime next spring.
While at first, most of council seemed comfortable with waiting, Trustee Lori Bourgeau raised the question on if it would really cost them less if they waited and also noted that one of the crosswalks is to add additional safety measures for students at Oxford Elementary School.
“Because it’s a school, because it’s a lot of traffic that we’re talking about, I would say how much money difference are we talking about. And since it’s the school year, I would say accept this as is and get the job done now,” Bourgeau said.
The rest of council agreed with Bourgeau to accept the bid and move forward with the project, even Helmuth who only cast a no vote to stay consistent in her vocal dislike of the project.
“As much as I hate this project, I agree with Lori. Nothing is going to get cheaper,” Helmuth said. “Nothing gets cheaper ever. I think the $25,000 is a great price considering what we thought we were going to get. Just, I can’t believe I’m going to say this: get it done.”
Trustee Jacob Nicosia, who has children who go to the school, also agreed that a crosswalk is a good idea considering almost every day there is a police officer out there helping students cross the street.
Madore said that at the most, the village could potentially save ten percent on the project, but that was on the optimistic side and the village could end up saving nothing if they waited.
Concrete for the sidewalks was poured last week and allowed the village DPW to move forward with installing crosswalk signage. Depending on weather, stripping may remain unfinished until spring.