richard_kaplan.jpgLAUDERHILL – Students from the YMCA representing the Live Well Lauderhill Community Action Plan were set to join Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan, Vice Mayor Hayward Benson, as well as city and YMCA leaders on Nov. 1, to celebrate the official commencement of a $420,000 “19th Street Greenway Project” at the school’s overpass entrance behind Lauderhill Middle School, 1901 N.W. 49 Ave.

The 4 p.m. event is on the Lauderhill Middle School ballfield.

The “19th Street Greenway Project,” financed in part by the Florida Department of Transportation Local Agency Program, will include lighting, wider sidewalks and crime-deterrent environmental landscaping.

The city’s implementation of the improvements is a result of student-led initiatives voicing safety concerns about walking to and from their school and the Lauderhill Community YMCA.

Lauderhill Police Reports documented 266 criminal incidents on the overpass in 2011. Many students do not use the pedestrian walkway due to the unsafe conditions.

The teens have been meeting with city officials since January to develop solutions that will improve safety around the walkway.

*Pictured above is Lauderhill Mayor Richard Kaplan.