MOUNT VERNON — With a quick snip of the scissors, Karen Buchwald Wright cut the ribbon Tuesday to officially open the Mount Vernon Avenue/Division Street sidewalk and intersection project.
Wright, chairman and president of Ariel Foundation, was given the honor of cutting the ribbon because it was a gift from the foundation that made the sidewalk portion of the project possible.
Mayor Richard Mavis said the city had identified the need for the walks and intersection improvements in 2011, but did not have the money. That’s when Wright stepped in.
“I drive to work this way and almost daily I would see people walking along the road. I thought I would like to see sidewalks here before someone gets killed,” Wright told the News.
She noted that many subdivisions built in the 1950s and 1960s were built without sidewalks, but that walks help make them neighborhoods, tying people closer together and making them safer. She is looking forward to more projects involving sidewalks and trees.
