Walking to school will soon be a safer option for children attending Hopkinton’s Harold Martin Elementary School.

The school has been awarded a $31,000 grant from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation that the Hopkinton School District will be able to put toward improvements for student safety.

School officials worked with community members to apply for the “Safe Routes to School” grant before finding out in December they had been awarded the money.

Although much of the grant includes lessons and studies on safety, the biggest aspect of it includes a sidewalk that will be built from Main Street to Harold Martin School.

“The driveway in and out of Harold Martin has long been a safety concern. Last year, we began looking at ways to correct that, but we pulled it out of the budget because it wasn’t necessarily supported by the community,” said Hopkinton Superintendent of Schools Brian Blake.

Blake also said the sidewalk will be help after school hours as well.

“When we have large activities at night and cars are on Main Street, pedestrians will have a safe way to walk into the school,” he said. “Having a safe way in and out will encourage parents to walk or ride bikes to school with their children.”

In addition to building the blacktop sidewalk, the grant will also fund bicycle safety courses at all three schools in town. Also, the school will be able to do safe route studies at each level as well.

“The studies involve analysis of travel patterns and safety concerns,” said Blake. “By doing the things involved in this phase of the grant, we’ll have the opportunity to apply for additional grant money based on the studies we’ll be doing.”

Selectman Don Lane said he is in full support of the grant and the projects involved.

“I think it’s a no-brainer. I don’t see any opposition. It’ll help, especially with those kids walking to school, and there are certainly some,” he said. “They’ll be able to do it more safely, and maybe the parents can drop them off at the end of the road so the kids can get out and walk.”

Lane also said there are more benefits than just safety.

“Anything you can do to get the kids up and walking makes sense,” he said.