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Planning Building and Development
Safe Routes to School
City Council adopts resolutions for the Williamson Road Area Safe Routes to School Grant Funds
Safe Routes to School (SRTS) is a national program that seeks to encourage and enable more children to safely walk and bike to school. All across the United States, schools are initiating SRTS programs with the help of federal funding that was allocated through the federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users Act, (SAFETEA-LU). In Virginia, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) leads the program. VDOT, through the SRTS program, assists interested localities, schools, and non-profit groups in the development of plans, activities, and infrastructure improvements to make bicycling and walking to school both safer and more appealing to children. The purposes of the program as described by the federal legislation are the following:
- To enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school
- To make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age
- To facilitate the planning, development and implementation of projects and activities that reduce traffic and improve safety, fuel consumption and air quality in the vicinity of primary and middle schools (kindergarten through eighth grade)
In December of 2006, Roanoke City Public Schools and the City of Roanoke staff got together and applied for grant funding to initiate pilot SRTS programs in the City Schools. Addison Middle School was one of the schools chosen to implement a pilot Safe Routes to School program. VDOT granted Roanoke City Public Schools a $25,000.00 “program grant” to purchase bicycles for instructional use and to promote the program through a family fun night. The City of Roanoke was granted a $325,982.00 “project grant” for infrastructure improvements around the school and in the neighborhood. As of Summer 2009, this project was underway.
Williamson Road Area Schools
On July 20, 2009 City Council adopted two resolutions to accept and appropriate funds from VDOT for a Safe Routes to School grant per the Williamson Road Area School Travel Plan. The grant will fund $470,000 of infrastructure improvements identified in the plan.
Working together with the school community, Roanoke City Public Schools and the City of Roanoke will make walking and bicycling to school safer and more enjoyable for children with the hope that more students will choose to walk and bike to school.
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