Oxford Township rejects federal funding for pedestrian path outside Oxford high school

Oxford Township officials have rejected federal funding to construct a 5,100-foot-long pedestrian path that would create a safe place for Oxford High school students to use in an emergency, saying they can do it cheaper and quicker using local funds.

Oxford Township supervisor Jack Curtis told The Detroit News last week that the township officially declined federal funds for $374,696, which was the 80% federal contribution for the project, to lay asphalt. 

Federal officials confirmed the grant was turned down.

"Federal funds, it does not come to us. It goes the state and the county road commission. They have specifications and requirements. It would have cost us $200,000 more to do that path. We choose to not accept those funds," Curtis said.

Requirements that drove the cots up included a 10-path path — when the township had designed an 8-foot path — and a rule that all easements had to be purchased. Curtis said the easements were all donated.

"When all this is all said and done, we couldn’t have done it this year (with the federal match). We would have to redesign path and rebid it differently," Curtis said.

The township is using federal pandemic funds, money from the district and other funds to pay for the path, which Curtis said he wants to see up and ready before school starts late this month in Oxford.

When 1,650 Oxford High School students were forced to evacuate their buildings on Nov. 30, 2021, after a gunman attacked, there was no easy path outside the school for them to navigate as they tried to head to safety.

Hundreds of students had to walk on the snowy shoulder of a 55 mph road along the school while emergency vehicles rushed by. Others navigated uneven terrain through wooded areas. Some jumped a nearby fence and walked through an apartment complex to seek safety away from the high school.

The 8-foot-wide path, along the west side of North Oxford Road and the south side of Ray Road near the high school, would be a shared-use route for walkers, runners, cyclists and individuals who use mobility aids.

Curtis said the township first proposed the path in 2020 when it wanted to increase connectivity between the high school, the village of Oxford and the business community along M-24. The proposed path also would provide a connection to the Polly Ann Trail, a non-motorized trail in Oakland County extending north from Orion Township on a former railroad corridor.

When the Oxford Fire Department responded to the high school on Nov. 30, 2021, Chief Peter Scholz said his team was met with 600 students running down the middle of the road, through ditches and nearby brush and trees.

The path would provide Oxford High students and staff with a direct route to the Meijer store at 900 N. Lapeer, the designated meeting point for students and staff after an evacuation, and the same area they went to after the school shooting to reunite with parents.

The township obtained a $50,000 grant to design the pathway; the board has approved the overall plan.

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin came to Oxford Township to see the route of the proposed path and talk to Oxford Township officials. She secured federal funding for the project.

The township also needs to provide its 20% portion of $93,678. Curtis said there are $50,000 in township funds set aside. Oxford Community Schools provided $10,000 in 2020 and the remaining money will come from federal pandemic relief funds.

jchambers@detroitnews.com