OXFORD – The Village of Oxford will use grant money to improve sidewalks near the Oxford Middle School and educate students and the public on the benefits of walking to school. The village was recently awarded $215,000 as part of a New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funding grants for municipalities across the state.

The grant is part of a nationwide effort to encourage kids to walk or bike to school. In New York, $26.5 million has been awarded to 64 municipalities out of the 117 which applied for the grant last year, reported NYSDOT Spokesperson Carol Breen. Oxford is the only municipality in Chenango County to receive the grant.

Oxford will use $21,000 for educational purposes while the remaining $194,000 is designated for infrastructural improvements to 2,080 feet of sidewalk near the middle and elementary school, said Breen. “It’s up to the village to contract and accomplish the project on its own and the state will reimburse them for up to $215,000,” she said.

According to a press release from the NYSDOT, the project was conceived when federal authorities noticed a spike in the negative effects on air quality and traffic congestion in areas surrounding schools as well as a consistent decline in childhood health in correlation with a steady decrease in the number of students who are walking or biking to school.