NewsEncouraging Safe Bicycling and Walking to School
Application Period for Round 2 of SRTS Funding opens March 17, 2008/ Applications Due May 12
Communities interested in promoting and enabling safe walking and bicycling to school are invited to submit applications for the Round 2 cycle of reimbursement funding under Safe Routes to School (SRTS).
The application period begins on Monday, March 17, 2008, and runs to 4 p.m. on Monday, May 12, 2008. After review and scoring by the Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs) and the Statewide Advisory Committee (SAC), the N.H. Department of Transportation (NHDOT) anticipates announcing awards on Monday, Aug. 25, 2008.
Application forms are available at the SRTS Web site: http://www.nh.gov/dot/bureaus/planning/SRTS_home.htm. Look for the yellow text box on the home page. They are also available from the coordinator.
Applicants should also take the time to download and read the funding criteria, application guidelines and travel plan format before filling out the application form. These documents also are available on the Web site and from the coordinator.
The revised application form is designed to ensure that communities will base their reimbursement requests on comprehensive planning, using the 5Es:
1. EvaluationNHDOT has developed the travel plan format for use in conjunction with the application form. Communities that submit a travel plan are not required to re-state the information in the application, and can skip some of the questions. Developing a travel plan is not an absolute requirement, but applications will be scored on how well they address each "E."
The revised application form also requests detailed cost estimates for both non-infrastructure programs (the fist 4 Es) and infrastructure or construction projects (engineering, the 5th E). Infrastructure cost estimates should be prepared by qualified staff member of a municipal public works or highway department, town road agent or engineering consultant.
SRTS is designed specifically to encourage and enable safe walking and bicycling by children in kindergarten thru 8th grade who live within approximately two miles of school. This includes students with disabilities. A threshold requirement is that local programs and projects demonstrate that their goal is to promote walking and cycling between residential neighborhoods and schools. SRTS can certainly complement other programs intended to make walking and cycling more appealing to residents of all ages, but support of the home-to-school connection is essential.
Schools and their communities that are not yet participating in SRTS are encouraged to get involved. A first step is to fill out and return the "preliminary school survey form" found on the page linked to the blue "getting started" box on the home page of the Web site.
When a community indicates an interest in the program, the coordinator will set up a meeting with local leaders. The session includes a PowerPoint presentation giving an overview of the program, a question-and-answer period, and a general discussion of local conditions affecting safe walking and bicycling.
Is your community sponsoring activities related to SRTS? Help inspire other cities, towns and schools by letting them know about everything from walking school buses to school assemblies and bike rodeos. See the Web page for examples that include kids walking to school in January in the North Country town of Gorham to walkability audits in Concord and Farmington. As the construction season opens, we hope to include Web pages on infrastructure projects. Please let the coordinator know what's going on.
This year's International Walk-to-School Day has been scheduled for Oct. 8, and the entire month has been dedicated to walking and riding bicycles to school. Organizing an event is an excellent way to initiate a local SRTS program. The kids love getting out in the fresh air, and they arrive as school energized and ready to learn. It's also a social time for the adults who accompany them. Many communities include an assembly or rally when the kids arrive. When the idea catches on, it can easily be expanded to a weekly or daily "walking school bus" or "rolling bike train."
With snow blocking many sidewalks and bike routes in New Hampshire communities, it may be hard to think about walking or bicycling right now, but spring will soon be here. Start your planning for Walk-to-School Day now. For an overview visit http://www.walktoschool.org/
This electronic newsletter is available for anyone interested in SRTS and related issues. Feel free to forward it. If you would like to be added to our distribution list (or if you would prefer to be removed) send e-mail with your name and electronic address to the coordinator:
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/bureaus/planning/SRTS_home.htm