Community groups, students rally to build the ‘Bosse Bridge to Education’

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - “Help us cross. Help us cross. Help us cross.”

The conversation continues in the push for a pedestrian bridge at the intersection of Highway 41 and Washington Avenue. Community groups and students are taking a stand for safety.

“It’s very difficult and things like that trying to time the signals that tell us when to walk and when it’s safe when they’re not on and stuff like that but I think it’s helped having the crossing guards this past couple of weeks,” says Bosse High School Junior Millai Madison.

We have been following this story for two years, but concerns have been gaining momentum recently. Friday afternoon, Indivisible Evansville rallied with the message to build the “Bosse Bridge to Education!”’

As we have reported, the push for a pedestrian bridge is out of concern for students crossing the highway to get to school. On Friday, student groups gathered there to stand up for their right to walk to school safely.

Indivisible Evansville and Brothers Saving Souls joined the rally. They are calling on the city to help with funding and to prioritize the overpass with state legislators.

Representative Ryan Hatfield did propose an amendment that would have put $1 million toward an overpass, but that did not pass through the statehouse.

Petitions have been floating around, but now advocates are saying it’s time to take it up a notch.

“I think a lot of time Bosse students are very under looked so just getting out here and showing that we really care and that we really need everyone else’s help to get things done in our community and things like that and just get our voices heard as the youth is super important,” says Madison.

Because this is a state road, INDOT takes the lead on building a bridge. After calls from the Mayor’s office, INDOT had a crew there on Wednesday assessing the intersection for options could work.

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