==
Bike-Walk Alliance of NH ==
Safe
Routes to School news
Encouraging Safe Bicycling and Walking to School
From NH SRTS June/July e-Newsletter dated June 26, 2009:
SRTS Funding Promotes Safe Bicycling and Walking
Index: Click topic to access:
Right
time to start
Startup
Grants Available
Survey Work is Critical
Plan for Walk-to-School Month in October
Gorham SRTS Leader Honored
Meet the Coordinator
Get Your Story Out
Summer’s here and the time is right for safe bicycling
and walking.
While the kids are enjoying their break, it’s a good time for communities
to make plans for reducing traffic congestion that will inevitably return when
classes start again.
Communities that are already participating in Safe Routes to School (SRTS) have been awarded almost half of the nearly $5 million budgeted for New Hampshire during the initial five-year period.
Even more communities are lining up for the startup and travel plan grants that
can help them initiate programs and complete the planning process. This can
lead to comprehensive programs to enable and encourage children in kindergarten
through 8th grade, including those with disabilities, to safely walk or ride
bicycles from home to school.
Eight communities hosting 14 schools have been awarded nearly $740,000 in the
Round 3 SRTS grant cycle. Commissioner George Campbell of the New Hampshire
Department of Transportation (NHDOT) approved the awards on June 15, 2009, based
on recommendations from the Statewide Advisory Committee (SAC). A list of successful
applicants is on the SRTS Web site.
The SAC is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, July 8, at 1 p.m., to complete its
review of the startup and travel plan applications filed during Round 3. The
meeting will be held in Room 205 in the Materials and Research Building, next
door to NHDOT headquarters on Hazen Drive in Concord.
At the same meeting, the SAC will evaluate the program and schedule Round 4.
Individuals who want to comment on the program are invited to send comments
via the coordinator. All SAC meetings are open to the public.
Ready
to Start? Seed Money and Planning Funds Available
As part of NHDOT’s efforts to streamline the SRTS process, the department has removed startup and planning grants from the funding cycles for general grants. This means that local leaders can apply for these reimbursement funds whenever the are ready to move ahead.
Startup grants can reimburse communities for the expenses associated with in-class
and parental surveys as well as preliminary education, encouragement, and law
enforcement efforts. Such community efforts should lead to a basic travel plan.
Applications must include budgets for less than $5,000.
Travel plan grants support more comprehensive planning, usually done in partnership
with a Regional Planning Commission (RPC). SRTS will reimburse for up to $15,000
per school. See the Web site for more details.
Surveys Critical to Success of
SRTS
Leaders of ongoing SRTS programs as well as those who are just getting started should gear up for in-class and parental surveys in the fall.
Established programs need to gauge the effectiveness of their SRTS activities. New participants will find the surveys a useful way to document current conditions and assess community attitudes and concerns about safe walking and bicycling to school.
The National Center for Safe Routes to School makes the evaluation process easy. The required survey forms are available on-line, linked to the “Getting Started” page on the Web site. Once filled out, data can be keyed into the national system or the forms can be sent to the center for scanning. Communities can ask their own questions in a separate survey, but the national center’s form is needed for data consistency.
October
is Walk-to-School Month
Successful SRTS programs often start off with modest, easy-to-organize events. Participation in International Walk-to-School month is an excellent way to start.
A growing number of communities organize walking school buses and rolling bike trains during the month, giving both kids and the adults who accompany them a taste of commuting in the fresh air and getting to know their neighbors.
Schools are encouraged to register at the International Walk-to-School Web site.
Anyone who thinks the New Hampshire winter is a barrier to safe walking hasn’t met Karen Cloutier and Bob Larivee.
Cloutier is principal of the Edward Fenn School in Gorham, and Larivee is a
physical education teacher there. They escort walking school buses every Wednesday,
through all kinds of weather.
Cloutier has been honored with a Community Leadership Award from the President’s
Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. See the Web site for more details and
a link to a Berlin Daily Sun article on the award presentation.
Construction is expected to begin soon on a new sidewalk on the school grounds,
providing physical separation between pedestrians and motor vehicles.
Have
PowerPoint, Will Travel
Communities that are thinking about SRTS should arrange a visit from the coordinator.
Such meetings work best with the beginnings of a SRTS local task force. A task
force includes representatives of the schools, municipality, educators, parents,
children, and other interested people from the community. The coordinator provides
an overview of the program, answers any questions, and engages in a discussion
of local conditions.
Appointments are at the convenience of local organizers, including early mornings
and evenings.
Get
Your Story Out
Visit
New Hampshire’s SRTS Web site to see what other Granite State communities
are up to. If your school and community are sponsoring SRTS-related events –
from walking school buses to bike rodeos – let the coordinator know.
No
Spam
This
SRTS electronic newsletter is a resource for individuals and communities that
are interested in the program. Feel free to forward it. Please notify the coordinator
if you prefer to be added to or removed from the distribution list.
For
information about New Hampshire’s efforts, contact:
John W. Corrigan
Safe Routes to School Coordinator
Bureau of Planning and Community Assistance
N.H. Department of Transportation
7 Hazen Drive, PO Box 483
Concord, NH 03302-0483
(603) 271-1980
jcorrigan@dot.state.nh.us
SRTS Web site: http://www.nh.gov/dot/org/projectdevelopment/planning/srts/index.htm