Wright City aldermen approved an extension to the sidewalk at Berretta Court and Wildcat Drive during the June 22 meeting.

Kyle Roettger, director of city services, said residents brought the issue to his attention.

“I had a resident reach out to me about the children on Beretta Court not having a safe way to get to the city walk that runs along the west side of Wildcat to walk to and from school,” he told aldermen. “She informed me that the kids would have to walk across Wildcat and then go through the ditch to access the city walk.”

He then laid out a plan to rectify the situation.

“I believe the best option to solve this problem would be to install a piece of walk that connects Wildcat to the existing walk that is already there,” Roettger said.

Roettger did not have a cost for the project, but said “it’ll be relatively cheap.” The project will require a new square of concrete to be poured, and both an ADA mat and a culvert pipe added. Crosswalk lines will also be painted across the roadway.

A few Wright City residents who live in that area attended the meeting.

“When my 14 year old was a little bit younger, that’s when they installed the sidewalk and I was like ‘yes, we’re getting the sidewalk,’” one resident said. “And then I’m like, ‘well, how are we supposed to get to it?’”

She said her son has almost been hit several times while riding his bike in that area.

“Thank you guys for bringing this to our attention,” Alderwoman Kerry Owens told the group. “I can’t believe that we didn’t know about this before.”

Roettger said the work will be completed before school resumes in August.

About the author: Jason Koch is the editor of The Warren County Record, and covers local news and government for the newspaper. He has won multiple awards from both the Indiana and Illinois APME and from the Illinois Press Association. He can be reached at 636-456-6397 or at jason@warrencountyrecord.com