By Will Pafford, Staff Writer

West Lake Hills is working toward obtaining a federal grant for sidewalks that will help pedestrians travel to local schools.
The City Council approved spending $9,000 to hire an engineer and pay for grant-writing expenses to apply for funding from the National Center for Safe Routes to School during its meeting on May 13.
Transportation Commission Chairman Gary Wachs presented the commission’s plan to apply to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, a federal program that “assists communities in enabling and encouraging children to safely walk and bike to school,” according to the center’s Web site.
The Transportation Commission’s plan is to pursue the grant to add sidewalks that would connect to the sidewalks already included in the city’s planned improvements to Bee Cave Road.
The city’s current plans include building a sidewalk along the south side of Bee Cave Road from Walsh Tarlton Lane to Camp Craft Road and adding incremental sidewalks and crosswalks on the north side to connect to the south sidewalk.
Wachs said the commission’s plan is to build sidewalks that tie neighborhoods into these sidewalks.
The commission proposed focusing on Eanes Elementary as it builds routes, Wachs said.
Wachs said the SRTS program funding is from the federal government, but the Texas Department of Transportation manages the funds in Texas.
The grant funds up to $750,000 per project, Wachs said.
The application process is competitive, however, he said.
Therefore the commission wants to hire an engineer to study how the city could build sidewalks and how much they would cost, he said, so the proposal is more viable.
“I think it’s a worthwhile expenditure of funds,” he said.
Even if the city does not obtain the grant this year, it can use the engineering analysis to apply for the grant again later, Wachs said.
The SRTS program usually begins accepting applications by early July.
“Time is not really on our side,” Wachs said.
If the city does receive funding, it would have to match 20 percent of the grant, he said.
Coucilwoman Jane Noble requested the grant application come before the Council before the commission submits it.