Streets by Kate

Streets by Kate - May 2019 Scholarship Essay

The chance to win $10,000 to spend on my home town, Watauga, is the chance of a lifetime. There is so much I could do to improve my town, I don't even know where I would start.
But the absolute first thing I would do, no questions asked, is to fix that same old road, Roof Snow Dr, the town have been “fixing” for who knows how long. Long enough for me not able to imagine the road not under construction. Along with that main road being fixed, other small street with potholes, sudden ditches and bump will be fixed. Especially the streets connecting to the highway 377. It like they spawn in those streets. These fixes will give drivers a piece of mind that they will not have a chance of somehow driving off the thin street, into steep shoulder, then into a ditch. All these fixes should not take more that a year to finish, quickly making the streets safer for both driver and pedestrians.
Another addition I would make to the streets of Watauga is to add more street lights, making it safer for teens wandering around or riding their bikes in the dark. Also making it safer for the critters and stray cats that roam around the streets. It doesn't make anyone happy when they suddenly hit a bump where there are no other speed bumps around.
I’d also donates some money to little family friendly business like the Sterling House of Watauga, keeping our loved ones living in great conditions. And the Mrs Baird's Bakery so they never shut down, and keep selling their sweet, sweet pastries. Continuing making memorable memories for the next generations have, like I had with the bakery. A side project I would also do is to try a put a successful frozen yogurt or maybe a pizza business that will be able to stay open for more than a few months in the, what I like to call, “The Forbidden Corner”, where no business has been able to survive for more than 2 months.
But if we’re going for extravagant improvement to my town, I would build a small underground tunnel, passing the train trains from below. Making the process of crossing the train tracks, smoother. No more fear of looking to our right and getting surprised by seeing the train, barreling down at high speed towards you. It would reduce all the long lines of traffic that practically covers one-fourth of the highway 377. But that improvement is for another day, in the distant future.
I would do so much more for my town to improve the safety of its streets and its businesses but, $10,000 can only do so much.