Foy Park.
Grant monies for the project can be used for the garden at another park.
A proposed traffic garden at Foy Park will not become a reality, as supervisors voted unanimously last week to not move forward with the project.
However, there is an opportunity that the grant money can be used to bring the traffic garden concept to another township park, possibly Coble Park.
Montgomery County Commissioners required the township to spend an estimated $18,000 to remove a 4,300-square-foot concrete pad at Foy Park, and another $14,000 to remove an old playground, before the traffic garden could be installed in the park.
Township Manager Jason Wager, at the Oct. 1 meeting, said the township Park & Recreation Board voted unanimously not to proceed with the garden project at its Sept. 9 meeting.
“As previously stated, per resolution from Montgomery County Commissioners approving the project, the garden shall be installed on an existing basketball court and an existing 4,300-square-foot asphalt pad removed,” Wager said. “We still have the grant if the board wants to move forward to install the traffic garden or it could carry over to next year, if we needed to.”
Supervisors Chair Marla Hexter attended the park board meeting and said not a single member voted in favor of proceeding with the plan, given the recent conditions put on the township by the County.
“I’m in favor of following their advice and not going forward with the traffic garden, at least not at that park,” Hexter said.
Park Board Chair Pam Reich said the $11,750 block grant will be left open, in case the board decides to do the project at Coble Park.
What is a traffic garden? Imagine taking those popular children’s car play rugs and making it some real-life, Richard Scarry-ish experience.
Now children would have a traffic garden – a space of small-sized “streets” with scaled-down traffic features to learn and practice how to ride bikes, skateboards, roller skates and the like in a place free from traffic and cars.
In some towns, they are called traffic playgrounds or safety towns.
When supervisors discussed the project last month, they debated on the efficacy and safety of the current playground equipment and whether it was at its end life.
It was agreed then to look into the cost of repairing the structure, as well as costs of removal of the playground equipment.
