Niles park board member Ric Ladonski developed an idea for mileage markers to enhance the safety of the Niles Riverfront Walkway.

This idea would let walkers, joggers and bicyclists know how far they have traveled and if an emergency developed, they could call 911 for assistance and give their location to the nearest marker post.

The city police, state police and fire department all have a master map with the post locations shown for fast response and location.

Lowe’s was approached with the plan and donated the 4-by-4 post, paint and cement for the project.

Tom Hurst, a Ring Lardner applied technology instructor, thought the idea would be a good community project to get his students involved in. The students cut in the architectural details, used a router to cut numbers and letters, then hand-painted the numbers and letters. The final step is to use the planer to smooth the face surface.

The street department will be installing the posts as soon as time allows.