By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The village will install a sidewalk before the start of the school year in an area where residents last year were concerned for students’ safety.

The new walkway will be on School Street, which runs between J.W. Leary Junior High and Nightengale Elementary schools.

“It will be done before school starts,” said Hassan Fayad, Department of Public Works superintendent.

“We’re discussing on which street side the sidewalk should go,” Mayor Tim Currier said.

Last fall, the board discussed how to address safety concerns in the area. Currier said grievances from residents are “precisely why we’re doing the project.”

In November, then-Police Chief Mark LaBrake said a stop sign at the end of the junior high parking lot says no left turn onto the sidewalkless area, but it’s school property, therefore officers cannot pull cars over even to give an oral warning.

“If that (traffic) stop was to go bad, we would be held liable. The road is a private drive, and that is a school sign,” LaBrake said at the time. “It’s not a legal, enforceable-by-law left turn.”

Earlier this year, the village looked at crafting a Complete Streets policy, which would outline uniform roadway and sidewalk construction standards villagewide, which officials previously said also could have alleviated worries in that area.