Michigan announces “Safe Routes to School” recipients
From MDOT:
The Granholm administration today announced that nine Michigan elementary and middle schools will receive more than $1.6 million in federal “Safe Routes to School” funding for safety improvements and education programs that will encourage students to travel safely between home and school.
“We want to protect the health and safety of our Michigan children,” said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. “This program offers our children encouragement and opportunities to walk or bike to school. These schools are to be commended for the neighborhood and community-building efforts they accomplished in developing action plans and pursuing these grants to improve safety and encourage healthy lifestyles.”
The schools receiving Safe Routes to Schools funding are:
Christa McAuliffe Middle School, Bangor Charter Township, Bay County;
Winans Elementary School, Delta Township, Eaton County;
George Long Elementary School, village of Grass Lake, Jackson County;
Frost and Cascades Elementary Complex, city of Jackson, Jackson County;
Jackson Arts and Technology Academy, city of Jackson, Jackson County;
Northeast Elementary School, city of Jackson, Jackson County;
Springport Elementary and Middle School, village of Springport, Jackson County;
Clear Lake Elementary School, Oxford Charter Township, Oakland County, and
Lincoln Elementary School, city of Cadillac, Wexford County.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports coordinate the program in Michigan, in collaboration with the Michigan departments of Community Health and Education, and several non-profit organizations and universities.
State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle said that MDOT’s role as the administering agency for the federally legislated program creates opportunities for collaboration with agencies and partners not traditionally involved with transportation funding.
“We are proud of Michigan’s comprehensive, integrated transportation system and the opportunities provided by all modes of travel, including walking and biking,” Steudle said. “With the partnerships developed, and still developing, this is a transformational approach to promoting safety and health. These improvements will not only benefit Michigan children, but will result in safer routes for all pedestrians and bikers in these local neighborhoods.”
“Changing the travel options for children has great potential to improve their health,” said Janet Olszewski, director of Michigan’s Department of Community Health. “Even a short, daily walk will improve the lives of many children across the state and help to create a healthier Michigan.”
“Daily physical activity derived from walking and biking to school benefits the health of the students involved, both immediately and as they move into adulthood and have children themselves,” said Marilyn Lieber, president and CEO of the Michigan Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports. “We are working to reverse the trend toward sedentary lifestyles. Behavior-changing programs like Safe Routes to School are an essential component of that effort.”
“Creating safe, healthy environments for Michigan’s schoolchildren is critical for optimal learning,” said Michael Flanagan, superintendent of public instruction for the Michigan Department of Education. “An active daily commute to school has great potential to set the stage for the classroom experience, so we are pleased to support the Safe Routes to School initiative as a quality component of our educational system.”
The federal program will provide a total of $16 million to Michigan through 2009. Today’s announcement was the first wave of Safe Routes to School funding; three additional rounds of grants will be announced this spring, next winter, and in the spring of 2009.
Funding for schools was established by Congress under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users of 2005 (SAFETEA-LU). Safe Routes funding is 100 percent federal, with no local match required.
To be eligible for the funding, communities must complete a “Handbook Planning Process,” which results in an action plan tailored to meet the specific needs of the school.
MDOT, with help from the Michigan Fitness Foundation, has structured the program so that the handbook planning process is available to every elementary and middle school in the state. The handbook helps school communities identify local obstacles to walking and biking and determine which steps to take to eliminate or minimize them. Safe Routes funding may then be sought to address some of the items identified in the action plan, as the nine schools receiving the funding have done.
Non-profit, educational and state agencies worked together with several pilot schools in Michigan to develop the planning process for all schools to use. The pilot schools receiving grant funding today are Winans Elementary, the Frost and Cascades Elementary Complex, Clear Lake Elementary, and Lincoln Elementary.
More information about Michigan’s Safe Routes to School Program, the Handbook Planning Process, the Action Plan, and funding, is available on the Web at: www.saferoutesmichigan.org (http://www.saferoutesmichigan.org/).
Following are the projects, listed by county:
Bay County
Christa McAuliffe Middle School will collaborate with the Bangor Charter Township School District and the Bay County Road Commission. The funding will be used to install new sidewalks on Kiesel and Two Mile roads to connect local subdivisions with existing sidewalks, pedestrian signals on Euclid Avenue, LED pedestrian signs on school property, and a bike rack at the school, and to provide educational materials to encourage biking and walking. The project budget is $389,312.
Eaton County
Winans Elementary School, one of Michigan’s pilot schools, will collaborate with the Waverly School District and the Eaton County Road Commission to construct sidewalks on Snow Road and Chanticleer Trail that will improve connections between the school property and existing sidewalks. The funding also will create a refuge island in the crosswalk at Snow Road, add bike racks and fencing, and provide educational and encouragement items such as pedometers, pamphlets, and safety equipment for crossing guards. The project budget is $456,394.
Jackson County
George Long Elementary School will collaborate with the Grass Lake Community School District and the village of Grass Lake to install sidewalk and road crossings on Grass Lake Road, and on Arthur, Water and Ridgeview streets, and provide educational and encouragement items such as “Walking Wednesdays” materials and safety training for crossing guards. The project budget is $78,521.
Frost and Cascades Elementary Complex, one of Michigan’s pilot schools, the Jackson Arts and Technology Academy and Northeast Elementary School, will collaborate with the Jackson School District and the city of Jackson. All three schools will work on sidewalk improvements and incentives for “Walking School Bus” and other educational activities. Other improvements include a bike rack for the Jackson Arts and Technology Academy, traffic calming signs at Northeast Elementary, and a transportation study to investigate alternatives to existing school busing within walking distance of area schools to encourage Safe Routes to School program development throughout the Jackson School District, and share the resulting plan with other Michigan school districts. The project budget is $120,653.
Springport Elementary and Middle School is collaborating with the Springport Public School District and the village of Springport. The funding will be used to make sidewalk repairs and install a connector path on Green Street and school property, stripe crosswalks, add safety lighting, reconfigure the pedestrian crossing at the school entry, add bike racks at the school, and develop a brochure with pedestrian route mapping and information about “Walking School Buses” to parents. The project budget is $98,363.
Oakland County
Clear Lake Elementary School, one of Michigan’s pilot schools, will collaborate with the Oxford Area Community School District and the charter township of Oxford to install sidewalks along the south side of the school, make parking lot and entry improvements, add school zone signs with flashing lights, add bike racks and provide education and encouragement items such as pedometers and pamphlets, safety equipment for crossing guards and “No Parking” signs. The project budget is $110,803.
Wexford County
Lincoln Elementary School, one of Michigan’s pilot schools, is collaborating with the Cadillac Area Public School District and the city of Cadillac. It will make sidewalk and crosswalk improvements, add bike lane signage, pavement markings and connector path construction on Ayer and Baker streets and the school property, and provide education and encouragement items such as pamphlets, brochures, maps and coordinate Safe Routes events with law enforcement officers. The project budget is $384,332.
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Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program Fact Sheet
Program Background
– The SRTS program was enacted with passage of the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) in August of 2005.
– Michigan’s SRTS allocation averages $3 million per year for 5 years.
– Over 4,000 Michigan schools, serving grades K-8, are eligible for SRTS projects.
– There are 285 Michigan schools registered to conduct SRTS programs as of January 2008.
– The program is administered by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Office of Economic Development.
Program Purposes
– To enable and encourage all children to walk and bike to school.
– To make bicycling and walking to school safer and more appealing alternative modes of transportation.
– To develop projects and encourage activities that will improve student health and safety while reducing traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools.
Program Requirements
– In Michigan, a school-based planning process must be completed as a prerequisite for funding.
– Infrastructure projects must be within a two mile radius of the school.
– Infrastructure projects must be implemented by a city, village or county road commission.
– Non-infrastructure projects may be implemented by schools, local agencies or nonprofit organizations.
How to Begin Safe Routes To School Program
– Visit Michigan’s SRTS Web site www.saferoutesmichigan.org (http://www.saferoutesmichigan.org/) for information, and/or
– Contact MDOT’s SRTS partner, the Michigan Fitness Foundation, at 1-800-434-8642 for information.
– Attend a SRTS training session and register your school.
– Form and engage a stakeholder SRTS handbook planning process team for your school.
– Conduct student and parent surveys to determine behavior and attitudes involved.
– Conduct a walking audit of routes students use for travel to/from your school.
– Analyze information and develop SRTS action plan for your school.
Activities Eligible for Grant Funding
SRTS funding is 100 percent federal; no match is required. SRTS grant funds can support both infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects. The statute identifies project types for each category as follows:
Infrastructure Projects
– Sidewalks
– On-street and off-street bicycle facilities
– Traffic calming and speed reduction
– Off-street pedestrian facilities
– Pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements
– Traffic diversion improvements in the vicinity of schools
Noninfrastructure Projects
– Activities to encourage walking and bicycling to school
– Traffic enforcement operations in the vicinity of schools
– Public awareness campaigns, community outreach
– Student training sessions (bicycle and pedestrian safety, health, and environment)
– Traffic education
– Funding for training volunteers and managers of safe routes to schools programs
For more information, contact Bryan Armstrong, AICP, Michigan Interim SRTS Program Coordinator, at 517 335-2636.
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