Safe Routes to School receives state grant
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 8 years, 8 months AGO
By BETHANY BLITZ
Staff Writer
Idaho communities are poised to receive nearly $4 million in state funds to make it safer to walk and bike to school.
The Idaho Legislature passed a bill that will allocate $3.7 million to build and repair sidewalks and walkways, construct pedestrian islands and enhance safety at crosswalks, pending the governor’s signature.
“There are too many kids in Idaho who have to walk to school along roadways that don’t have sidewalks or cross streets that don’t have adequate pedestrian crosswalks,” said Idaho House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding (D-Boise). “This money will go toward projects that will make our children safer and our communities more accessible to pedestrians.”
Safe Routes to School is a national program sustained by parents, schools, community members and local, state and federal governments that make efforts to improve the health of kids by encouraging them to walk and bike to school.
Many school districts have worked in the past with the group to get grants to better walkways and bike paths.
“There are certainly places in our district where students are walking without sidewalks or crosswalks,” said Matt Handelman, superintendent of the Coeur d’Alene School District. “We've worked well with municipalities to help identify and rectify some problem spots. Clearly if there is funding available we will continue to pursue making passage to school safer for any or all of our students."
Kirsten Pomerantz, an English teacher at Lake City High School who used to be a Safe Routes to School coordinator, said the fact the legislation passed shows Safe Routes to School is a “sustainable idea.”
The Post Falls School District said it’s glad the legislation passed, noting it could use the help in the west part of the district.
“Near Prairie Elementary School, though they’ve vastly improved, we still need more walking and bike paths,” said Jerry Keane, the district’s superintendent. “We’re always in favor of expanding the ability for students to walk or bike to school safely.”