Safe Routes to School
Routt County and the Steamboat Springs School District have been awarded a $16,500 Grant from CDOT’s Colorado Safe Routes to School Grant program for school year 2010-2011. The draft Kid-Friendly-Safe Routes-to-School Map here on the table is part of that grant.
It’s a three part grant for which we have committed to making a child-friendly map of the best/safest ways to get to school and around Steamboat; hosting bike rallies to teach safely skills to kids and to show that walking or biking to school is easy and fun; and educating kids about how by walking or biking they can minimize their carbon footprint, have fun, and be healthy.
Why: We want Steamboat kids to be safe on our roads.
Who: Program Grant Manager – County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush
Grant co-managers – Paige Boucher, Sandi Gibson
Technical Advisor: City of Steamboat Springs Engineer Janet Hruby
Bike Rally 2010 team – Sam Rush, Blair Seymour, Corey Prager, Aryeh Copa, Shannon Casson
What we have done through April, 2011: Last fall, 2010, we organized a series of bike rallies for Grades K-8 at Soda Creek Elementary and the Strawberry Park Elementary and Middle School Campus, including a portion of the parking lot, a portion of the surrounding fields, and Butcher Knife Canyon Trail.
During and after the rallies, parents and children gave us information about what routes they use to walk or bike to school. We then worked with Creative Bearings, a local graphics and web design company, to create a Kid-Friendly Map. The draft of that map is here on the table.
Routt County Riders donated helmets, and many RCR members volunteered in 2010.
In 2011, Livewell Northwest Colorado donated helmets for the Wednesday spring 2011 Bike/Walk to School days and for today’s, May 14, Routt County Riders Bike Fest Rally.
The local Steamboat Springs hike and bike to school program is not funded by this CDOT Safe Routes to School grant, but it is a key local program for getting children to school safely. It is parent driven and completely volunteer accomplished.
Why: We want Steamboat kids to be safe on our roads.
Who: Chair and 2004 Program Founder Paige Boucher
2011 Program co-managers and Volunteer coordinators: Lisa Barbour, Val Dietrich, Shannon Carlin, Linda Curzon
LiveWell Northwest Colorado Program coordinator: Barb Parnell
What the Program has accomplished: The Steamboat Springs Hike and Bike to School Program, which has been in existence for the last seven years at Strawberry Park Elementary, is now being expanded to include Soda Creek Elementary and the Steamboat Springs Middle School. The program promotes hiking and biking to school once-a-week as part of a healthy lifestyle. An all-district effort, parent volunteers, and prizes make this each-Wednesday-morning program special. Our goal is that kids and parents will learn how easy and beneficial hiking or biking to school can be, and that they will continue this effort throughout the week and even all year long.
Dates: Wednesday mornings, April 27 – June 8, seven weeks until school is over.
