18-Deliberate and act on a resolution approving an application for funding through TXDOT for Safe Routes to Schools Infrastructure Grant Program18

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Form 2334 (08/09) Page 6 of 6 Project Number: (For TxDOT use only) Proposed Improvement Project Continued: (Insert narrative below) Our project greatly improves safety around Crockett Middle School (CMS) and Justiss Elementary School (JES) by providing a means to walk or bike to school on a path that is formally separated from vehicular traffic on busy streets. We have determined that the infrastructure strategy from our SRTS Master Plan is most relevant to accomplish our overall goals of 1) improving the safety of and 2) increasing the number of students walking and bicycling to school. It should be noted that our SRTS Master Plan incorporates strategies from each of the categories of education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation; however, due to the almost total lack of safe, appropriate routes to walWbike to school, parents and students will not take the first step if these deficiencies are not corrected. ents will be positively impacted by the implementation of this project. Our goal is to increase the percentage of students walking/ g to school by 10%. ?time? Parents and students surveyed in our SRTS Master Plan indicated a willingness to walk and/or bike to ol if appropriate and safe avenues for travel were in place. r SRTS Master Plan contains components which are related to this project. CMS and JES participated in 2009 Int'I Walk to School Day. isical education activities at each school educate and encourage students to increase daily physical activity. Use of these techniques :ourages the students to be physically active during family time on the weekends. However, education and encouragement strategies not an integral part of this application due to the fact that there are no safe routes to walWbike to school and infrastructure must be istructed in order for the other strategies to be successful. The following describes the proposed improvements for each campus with numbered items corresponding to the numbered improvements indicated on each map (attached). The focus of both projects is sidewalWcrosswalk construction. The proposed improvements for CMS include four foot wide concrete sidewalks, flashing school zone signs, rumble strips, bike lanes and a 12 foot wide hike/bike sidewalk. Specifically: 1. Two new flashing school zone signs/rumble strips installed in high traffic areas. 2. New sidewalks and crosswalks - north. 3. New sidewalks and crosswalks- south. 4. New sidewalk and crosswalks - west to connect bike lanes. 5. New bike lanes on roadway connecting to new pedestrian/bike lane connecting to existing hike/bike Trail de Paris - the artery of our SRTS system. The proposed improvements for JES include four foot wide concrete sidewalks, flashing school zone signs, rumble strips, and painted walking area in an existing parking lot. 1. New rumble strips added to existing flashing signs or in conjunction with new flashing and non-flashing signs in four areas - all high traffic areas. 2. A four foot striped walking area will be painted on parking lot surface to provi( a route to new crosswalks and new sidewalk. 3. Existing crosswalk improvements to connect to new four sidewalk.4. New sidewalk with curb ramps/ crosswalks /culvert will end at railroad crossing, tying into a proposed hike/bike trail (Trail de Paris). S. New sidewalk with curb ramps/crosswalks will continue south until it reaches existing concrete parking lot on northeast corner of t 9th St (FM 79) and Bonham St (Bus. US 82). There is signal control at intersection. acles to active transportation will be rectified by construction of the improvements outlined above. By providing a formal ration between the paths of our students and the hazards of rush hour traffic, we will begin the process of implementing our SRTS The combination of traffic safety devices, increased police patrol and student safety education will result in fewer traffic and !strian accidents and/or injuries. An added benefit is that students can access the Trail de Paris from several neighborhoods and v bike to CMS. Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) Infrastructure Project Application 1 r1, ~