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City Awarded $337,603 to Help Kids Safely Bike and Walk to School
Tavelli Elementary students will soon have a new $244,903 multi-use path and crosswalk. In addition, all K-8 students will benefit from a $22,700 grant to provide education and encouragement activities in local schools. These grants were awarded to the City of Fort Collins as part of the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School program and leverage $70,000 in matching funds from Poudre School District. The path’s construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2014 with completion slated for the beginning of the 2015-16 school year.
“Right now, students at Tavelli who live south along Lindenmeier Road don’t have a safe way to walk or bike to school because this section of road has no sidewalks and very narrow bike lanes,” explains Nancy Nichols, the City’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator. “This new path and crosswalk will allow students from neighborhoods on both sides of Lindenmeier to safely walk and bike right up to the front doors of Tavelli Elementary.”
The City successfully vied for the grant monies, which will help achieve the City’s goal of 50% of local schoolchildren regularly walking or biking to school. To encourage more biking and walking, City staff will enlist volunteers to launch more “walking school buses” and “bike trains” to safely escort kids to school under adult supervision. Walking school buses and bike trains work the same way as a school bus — adult leaders have a list of kids to pick up on the way to/from school, culminating with a group arriving at school safely on foot or by bike.
Existing Conditions Photosproject Timeline
September 2013
CDOT authorization to proceed with project.
December 2013
Completion of pre-project student and parent surveys.
April 2014
All NEPA requirements completed.
June 2014
Selection and contracting of subcontractor.
July to September 2014
Design.
August 2015
Construction complete.
December 2015
Completion of post-project student and parent surveys.
July 2016
Last date for project completion and final CDOT report.
CONTACT
Nancy Nichols, Safe Routes to School Coordinator | 970-416-2357 |
