The Hammonton Gazette 01/07/15 Edition | Page 5

Safe Routes to School grant being sought by town, school Page 4 • Wednesday, January 7, 2015 • The Hammonton Gazette ROUTE, from Page 1 perintendent Dr. Dan Blachford and Hammonton High School athletic Director Marni Parks contacted Wolosky about the Safe Routes to School program. “They thought we could be helpful in pursuit of this program because last year Mrs. Parks had us map out routes that we ran on that are safe and away from major highways. i am not from Hammonton but Jen [Plummer] and Brianni [Martinez] were very big on that part as far as the routes that we could run on that could be safe. We gave them all the routes and now they are on file at the athletic office,” Wolosky said. Plummer, a senior at Hammonton High School, said the three came together last spring, mapping out routes they normally run on for cross country practices throughout the season. “We took it road-by-road, how to get to the school and back. each practice we would go off school grounds. We had a chart where we would check off which ones we went to just in case we didn’t know which route we were on and to determine the routes and roads,” Plummer said. in the mapping out process, they all made sure there were sidewalks involved as well to stay off the roads as much as possible. “We always try to stay off the major roads, such as the White Horse Pike [Route 30] and the expressway on the other side of town. The ones that had houses on them, so they were visible when going by were looked at as well,” Plummer said. When off school grounds, Wolosky said there have been established rules creating for safer running courses during practices. “No one can run on major highways. They always had to run in groups and now with the new laws that are out we have to have, when Less riders expected in town for triathlon RACE, from Page 3 year during the event, but that didn’t occur, leading to traffic headaches. “it all depends where we are picking at. We have blueberries all over. That day [last year’s triathlon] luckily we were away from that. if we were down the Nesco farm then we would have had a problem…The operation will not be stopped because of it, bottom line,” DiMeo said. DiDonato reiterated that Challenge atlantic City’s bike route should equate to less of a traffic impact for residents of the town and commuters traveling to and from Hammonton, including the local farmers. “it looks like it is a viable route and it is about 80 to 90 percent of the way there to the finished course i believe. if you want to see the race in Hammonton, you have to go to Columbia Road or Middle Road from Columbia Road to