OXFORD – Chenango County has been awarded a federal $775,000 transportation enhancement grant that will be used to build five-foot wide paved shoulders along county Route 32 from Oxford to Greene specifically marked for use as bicycling/pedestrian trails.

Department of Transportation Director Randy Gibbon said stencils, signs and bicycle racks would be provided at various points along the pathway on both sides of the county highway. Approvals are still forthcoming from the state’s DOT, but a 2008 construction date is being planned. Gibbon wrote a grant for the funds in July 2006 and received approvals in early November.

“For the traveling public, that road will be much safer for everybody,” Town of Green Supervisor Jack T. Cook said.