State Farm grant increases student safety

A grant from State Farm will sponsor the installation of two radar speed limit signs on Wood Street. Bush Elementary School Principal Holly Broadway, left, former council member Beverly Gray, Mayor Lowe Cannell and State Farm agents Don Woodson and Russ Weyland were on hand Tuesday for a check presentation.
A grant from State Farm will sponsor the installation of two radar speed limit signs on Wood Street. Bush Elementary School Principal Holly Broadway, left, former council member Beverly Gray, Mayor Lowe Cannell and State Farm agents Don Woodson and Russ Weyland were on hand Tuesday for a check presentation.

When school resumes this fall, children walking to and from Bush Elementary School will be a little safer.

Thanks to a grant from State Farm, two new radar speed limit beacons will be installed on Wood Street.

"We appreciate the donation," Interim Fulton City Engineer Kyle Bruemmer said. "(State Farm agents) Don (Woodson), Russ (Weyland) and everybody at State Farm have really stepped up to help."

Much like the traffic sign positioned on Wood Street near its intersection with Route Z, these beacons will display the current speed limit and also how fast drivers approaching the sign are traveling. They'll be placed along the road at both ends of the school property, in hopes of slowing traffic in both directions.

The city pursued the grant after former city councilmember Beverly Gray raised concerns about speeding on Wood Street, Bruemmer said.

The $7,200 grant, presented during Tuesday evening's Fulton City Council meeting, is part of State Farm's Good Neighbor Citizenship philanthropy program, Woodson said. It's a matching grant and the city will have to contribute about $1,000, Bruemmer said.

"All of us at State Farm are very proud to support programs like this, and all the work our city's done to keep our students safe," Weyland added.

With the money in hand, the city can now purchase the two signs, Bruemmer said. Each will feature the State Farm logo. They should be installed later this year.