More false information from Hawes

The construction coordinator for the Seven Locks/Kendale project has sent out more false and misleading information to the community.

MCPS Facilities Management Director Richard Hawes told Churchill Cluster PTA leaders that concerns about no sidewalk space to the new Kendale site are misplaced, because there are no sidewalks or safe walking routes on the way to Seven Locks Elementary School.

In Hawes' words, "There are no sidewalks along Bradley or Seven Locks and no safe walking routes for students at Seven Locks. Bus transportation is provided for all students at the current Seven Locks site. Bus transportation will be provided for all students at Kendale also. Even if Seven Locks stays where it is as the final solution, there are no opportunities to create safe walking routes along Bradley and Seven Locks. So the walking situation between the two sites are identical."

Hawes' statement is false.

There is a sidewalk more than a mile long on the west side of Seven Locks Road, stretching from River Road to Bradley Boulevard.

On almost any morning with pleasant weather, children use that sidewalk to walk to Seven Locks Elementary School. This blogger walks with his children along the same sidewalk to school. A pedestrian light on Seven Locks and Bradley offers safe crossing to the schoolyard.

So, even at this date, Richard Hawes continues to mislead the public about safety issues in favor of his Kendale plan - and he has yet to answer for ridiculing parents who asked him about corruption and fraud in school construction.

Earlier this month, Hawes acknowledged that MCPS cooks the facts to suit his policies.