Mariposa sidewalk work

The City of Citrus Heights has a project underway to close the remaining sidewalk gaps on Mariposa Avenue between Skycrest Elementary and Greenback Lane. Most of the sidewalks in this section were completed under earlier projects, and have enhanced safety for walkers and bicyclists along Mariposa Avenue. The new sidewalks will have ADA ramps at every corner. Where there is a vertical offset between yards and the sidewalk, there will be low concrete walls. This project is known as Mariposa Sidewalks Phase 3, and is funded by an ATP (Active Transportation Program) Safe Routes to School grant.

sidewalk construction on Mariposa Avenue and Farmgate Way

The final sidewalk gaps on Mariposa Avenue between Skycrest Elementary and Madison Avenue will be completed by Mariposa Sidewalks Phase 4, another Safe Routes to School Project, which will likely start construction in the spring of 2020. These sidewalk infill (and bike lane enhancement) projects benefit particularly Skycrest Elementary, Kingswood K-8, and San Juan High students, but the entire community, as well.

Bicyclist Education for Youth Educators

The San Juan Safe Routes to School program is offering a course for PE teachers and other staff who do or want to work with youth on bicyclist education. The course will be Friday, March 9, 6:00-9:00PM and Saturday, March 10, 9:00AM to 4:00PM at the district office. Please see the information page, which includes more information and registration links. This course is the equivalent of the nationally recognized League of American Bicyclists Traffic Skills 101 course, but with additional information and perspective on working with youth.

promoting active transportation

The California Department of Education document Sustainable Communities and School Planning has a section on promoting active transportation.

“Promoting Active Transportation: Safe routes to school promote active forms of transportation (e.g., walking and biking) with associated health benefits and reduced pollution and traffic near schools. Creating safe routes by removing existing barriers or mitigating safety issues is much more difficult and expensive to accomplish after construction than if the school is originally sited and designed correctly. Working with local traffic planners is critical, and help is available in the form of technical resources, training, and funding from a variety of sources. District efforts may involve walkability audits, surveys on modes of transportation, safety curriculum, and program development such as the “walking school bus” and bicycle “train ” (students accompanied by adults walking or bicycling on a safe route) and infrastructure or safety projects such as bike and skateboard racks, sidewalks, bike lanes, and lighting improvements.”

Safe Routes student tallies

Student tallies are a key part of the Safe Routes to School Program. The tallies record how students get to and from school on three days of one week. The categories are walking, bicycling, other (meaning other active transportation modes such as skateboarding and scootering), family vehicle, carpool, transit, and school bus. Classroom teachers explain the categories to their students and then record the modes by a raise of hands, six times during the sampling week.

The data becomes part of the national Safe Routes to School Data System, which keeps a permanent record of student tallies (and parent surveys) completed in our district and all over the country. The data is also used by the district and by transportation agencies (Sacramento County and City of Citrus Heights) to plan projects and design procedures that will have the most impact on the greatest number of students.

The data is also a critical part of all transportation-related grant applications. The competition for funds is so great that only locations with good data are awarded grants. Of course there is a lot more to a successful grant application than just the student mode share information, but it is a key element. For example, two grants recently received by the City of Citrus Heights for school-related projects, Mariposa Sidewalks Phase 4 and the Electric Greenway, depending upon the district already having mode share data for the affected schools. Fortunately, due to the Citrus Heights School Walkability Project, we had data for all but one of the schools, and that school did the tally for the grant application.

We encourage every school in the district to complete the student tally every fall. Schools that are part of our current Safe Routes to School ATP grant must complete the survey once per year.

Every school can make the student tally data part of their safety plan (Comprehensive School Safety Plan template), as safety plans should address the issue of how students get to and from school, and how students walking and bicycling interact with drivers dropping off and picking up other students (“procedures for safe ingress and egress of pupils, parents, and employees from school site” – California Education Code; and “Traffic directions for pick-up and drop-off visible to make parking lot traffic flow efficient as possible.” – San Juan administrative regulation).

The assessments page has links to historical student tally data for all schools that have participated in the past. Mode share data is also a basic piece of information that the Safe Routes to School Program uses when schools request special assistance to deal with traffic or safety issues that have either grown worse of time or are new.

For more information about participating in the tally, contact Dan Allison, Safe Routes to School Coordinator, dan.allison@sanjuan.edu.