The Cassville community hopes a new sidewalk between the high school and intermediate school will prevent any more tragedies like the one in September 2007 when Michael Galyen, 16, was struck by a car and killed while walking to school. The way hundreds of Cassville students walk to school will now be a little safer.

"It always worried me," said Cassville Mayor Tracy Holle.

Holle taught 25 years for Cassville schools, and saw the danger on narrow Highway Y.

"I would, nearly daily, tell the children to always be safe going home, and walking and traveling," Holle said.

Now, 1,500 feet of new concrete will help students have a safer route to school. But it comes after the tragic death of Galyen.

"It hit the community very hard," said Holle.

When Michael's accident happened, students had no choice but to walk on the pavement, alongside busy traffic.

"Many times, our buses would be meeting a car on that highway as well, and have students walking on the side," said Cassville Superintendent School District Jim Orrell.

It became a pedestrian hazard about 15 years ago, with the building of Cassville High School.

"We've had a few minor incidents over the past 15 years," said Orrell.

The city and school district had tried twice, unsuccessfully, to get grant funding for a sidewalk. With Michael's death, "we knew that we had to do something," said Holle.

The Missouri Department of Transportation offered to pay for the engineering, and the city and school talked about splitting the rest, but finally achieved a Safe Routes to School grant. Six property owners also pitched in, giving up parts of their yards.

"Certainly, this will cut down or maybe totally eliminate, we hope, future incidents involving pedestrians and autos," said Orrell.

Of course, it can't bring back what the community has already lost.

"I hope that Michael's family will see this as a memorial to him," said Holle.

The Cassville community is holding a ribbon cutting for the new sidewalk that runs from the intermediate school to the high school at 9:00 Monday morning. The sidewalk construction cost about $96,000. Some younger students will use the sidewalk, but the superintendent says high school students will use it the most, on the way to and from school.