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The heavily traveled road has no sidewalks, and water tends to pool on the uneven road shoulders from poor drainage, creating another walking hazard.
As a result, many students end up driving to school or getting a ride from a friend or parent, adding to traffic congestion in the area.
In the fall, the borough will begin working on a solution.
Columbia has received a $1 million grant from the federal Department of Transportation's Safe Routes to School program to add sidewalks, curbs and crosswalks and make storm-water drainage improvements on both sides of the road.
The work, which could begin in the fall, will be the third project the borough has undertaken to increase pedestrian safety.
Work is nearing completion on a $562,000 project to add sidewalks to both sides of Ninth Street, from Ironville Pike to Route 462 (Lancaster Avenue).
And two years ago, Columbia spent about $3 million to add curbs and sidewalks on Route 462 the length of the borough.
All three projects are designed to get more people, especially schoolchildren, to use their feet instead a car, truck or SUV, when traveling through the borough.
The improvements to Ironville Pike are long overdue, said Norm Meiskey, Columbia Borough manager.
"Right now, nobody in their right mind would want to walk along that road," he said.
A pedestrian and a bicyclist were killed on the road in the past five years, Meiskey said, and many parents won't allow their children to walk there.
Columbia Mayor Leo Lutz said the borough five years ago analyzed the streets around its five schools and found several "that really posed a serious hazard for kids."
"Once we fix this up, kids will be able to safely walk to school, which will have a benefit by reducing the amount of vehicular traffic around the schools, making them safer, too," Lutz said.
In conjunction with the improvements, Columbia Borough School District plans to emphasize the benefits of walking in health classes and promote walking through contests that challenge students to come up with creative ways to get their parents to walk or bike with them to school.
School officials did not respond to requests for comment on the project.
Meiskey said the borough wants construction to begin as soon as possible so it can take advantage of competitive bids from contractors eager for work in the weak economy.
The project will extend about three-quarters of a mile, from Ninth Street to the borough line just past Norwood Road.
Columbia probably won't need to acquire any private land for the improvements, Meiskey said, because the work isn't expected to extend beyond the public right of way.
The earliest the project could be completed, he estimated, is August 2010.
E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com
