CRANBERRY TWP — For the Cook family of the Fox Run neighborhood, 800 feet of newly poured sidewalk is making life a whole lot easier.

“It makes a world of difference for us,” said Lindsey Cook, mother of four. “We're so excited.”

A joint project between the township and Seneca Valley School District connected sidewalks from Fox Run to Rowan Elementary School, making it easier for families to walk and ride bikes back and forth from the school and two local daycares.

They recognized the fruits of their combined efforts Friday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a walk on the newly completed pathway. Representatives from the school district and township and Fox Run families took part in the celebration.

District Superintendent Tracy Vitale praised the collaboration between the parents, school and township and spoke highly of the township's long-term strategic planning process that identifies projects like this one.

“Projects like this don't get done because one person thinks it's a good idea,” Vitale said.

Kathleen McCaig, township planning specialist, said the township began talking with the school district about a year ago about filling in the missing sidewalk between Rowan Elementary and Fox Run. There were pieces of sidewalk by the Rowan Towers office building and Hope Lutheran Church, but there were gaps in between.

The township built three pieces of sidewalk that filled in the gaps between the school and the neighborhood, which is on the south side of the road. Construction was completed this summer.

The school also agreed to build a piece of sidewalk on its property on the north side of Rowan Road that would connect to an existing piece of sidewalk leading to The Goddard School.

“These are the types of projects we're interested in,” McCaig said. “How can we connect people to places they want to walk to.”

From the Rowan school building to the heart of the 320-house Fox Run neighborhood, the sidewalk creates a continuous network of over half a mile of sidewalk, McCaig said.

Richard Hadley, chairman of the township board of supervisors, said, additionally, the traffic signal on Rowan Road at the elementary school entrance is the township's only protected signal. This means when a pedestrian pushes the button at the signal, it stops traffic in each direction so they can safely cross the road.

Cook, the Fox Run resident, said she and her family walked the disjointed path to the school before the new sidewalks were put in. She has a child in first grade and third grade this year and two younger children.

Some days it would be extremely muddy and slippery, and keeping young children out of mud puddles is no easy task.

“This is much better,” Cook said.