State Awards Funds For NC Safe Routes To School Program

More than $3.6 million going to 22 municipalities and local agencies

RALEIGH, NC – The NC Department of Transportation has awarded more than $3.6 million through its Safe Routes to School program to 22 municipalities and local agencies.

“Communities in North Carolina are demanding more transportation choices around their schools,” said Interim Safe Routes to School Coordinator Sarah O’Brien. “Just one generation ago, it was common for students to walk or bike to school. These projects will not only help get us back to that quality of life in our neighborhoods, they can provide an economic boost to local agencies.”

More than $3.4 million will go to 13 projects that include constructing new sidewalks or greenways, and installing school zone signs, bicycle parking racks and pedestrian signals. Funds will also help improve intersections by constructing wheelchair ramps and marking crosswalks.

Nine non-infrastructure grants totaling $256,751 will fund activities such as pedestrian and bicycle safety instruction, programs encouraging children to walk or bike to school, student safety patrol programs, neighborhood speed watch programs and crossing guard programs.

NCDOT received 93 applications from across the state requesting almost five times the amount of funding available.

The Safe Routes to School program is a federal program that encourages elementary- and middle school-aged children to walk and bicycle to school as a healthy transportation alternative. This is the second year that NC Safe Routes to School grants have been awarded.

The program makes funding available for a wide variety of programs and projects, from building safer street crossings to establishing programs that encourage children and their parents to walk and bicycle safety to school. In the process, the programs work to reduce traffic congestion and improve children’s health and the environment.

For more information about the NC Safe Routes to School program, contact O’Brien at (919) 515-8703 or visit the Safe Routes to School Web site at www.ncdot.gov/programs/safety.