ST. CLOUD, Fla. – One Osceola County high school student has spent the last month collecting signatures in an effort to improve safety for students walking to and from St. Cloud High School.
For years, Charity Best was one of more than an estimated hundreds students who walked along 17th Street to get to school, a street that doesn't have any sidewalks except for a small stretch right in front of the entrance to the high school.
Even after her family moved a couple miles away, Best still collected more than 1,000 signatures as part of a petition to put sidewalks along the road.
"I took it into my own hands since the City Council wasn't doing anything about it yet," she said.
Her father, Ray Best, helped go door to door, convincing the majority of people living in the neighborhood to support putting in a sidewalk.
"You'd think there would be sidewalks by a school," he said. "It's just common sense. [This is] something she can be proud of."
Best's petition received support from several prominent area politicians, including the Osceola County Sheriff, members of the St. Cloud Police and Fire Department.
St. Cloud Public Information Officer Krystal Diaz said the project has been discussed in the past, and a preliminary estimate shows the project would cost in the area of $230,000.
"We have applied for LAP (Local Assistance Program) funding for part of the project, and have been researching whether community development block grant funding can also be used," Diaz said. "The city's recently adopted mobility fee may also be used for this type of project."
School district and city leaders said the biggest obstacle with the project is dealing with easements, which do not allow for sufficient room for a sidewalk since many homes own all the land in between their homes and the roadway.
Best's petition was formally submitted to St. Cloud City Council last week, and is expected to be discussed at Thursday's council meeting. That takes place at 6:30 p.m. at St. Cloud City Hall.
"I want everybody else to have sidewalks and for them to be safe, because if one kid gets hit, it's an issue for the city," Best said.