Julie A. Oaks
TDOT, Public Information Officer
 Office: 615.741.2331
Mobile: 615.533.7105
Fax: 615.741.9093

Governor Bredesen Announces Safe Routes to School Grant for Johnson City

Nashville, Tenn. – As part of Governor Phil Bredesen’s continued commitment to promoting health and wellness among Tennessee children, the State of Tennessee is awarding $250,000 in Safe Routes to School funds to Cherokee Elementary School in Johnson City. The Safe Routes to School program is a statewide initiative designed to make bicycling and walking to school a safer, more appealing and healthier alternative for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Bredesen has stated his support of the Safe Routes to School program as an opportunity for schools, communities and government officials to work together to promote a healthier lifestyle for children and families.

“Our GetFitTN program encourages children to embark on a healthier lifestyle,” Bredesen said. “The Safe Routes to School program further supports that goal by providing increased safety education, enforcement and infrastructure improvements that will help keep children safer when walking or biking to school.”

Cherokee Elementary School will utilize the Safe Routes to School funds for improvements to approximately 3,700 linear feet of walkway and bikeway paths in the vicinity of the school. The pathways will provide a safe non-vehicular travel alternative to the school from several surrounding residential areas. The program will also help promote walking and biking as a common and accepted means of school travel.

The grant is made possible through a federally funded program administered by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

“The Safe Routes to School program is an innovative program that integrates health, fitness, traffic relief, environmental concerns, and safety all under one umbrella,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Funds may be used for two different types of projects, infrastructure and non-infrastructure, that directly support increased safety and conveniences for kindergarten through middle school children to walk and bike to school."

The SRTS program is funded by $10.7 million in funds through 2009. The funds were provided specifically for this purpose through SAFETEA-LU (Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users), the federal surface transportation program. The Safe Routes to School program is 100% federally funded and does not require a local match.

The Safe Routes to School program is comprised of five elements referred to as the 5 E’s.

• Engineering—creating operational and physical improvements to the infrastructure surrounding schools that reduce speeds and potential conflicts with motor vehicle traffic, and establishing safer and fully accessible crossings, walkways, trails and bikeways.
   
• Education—teaching children about the broad range of transportation choices, instructing them in important lifelong bicycling and walking safety skills and launching driver safety campaigns in the vicinity of schools.
   
• Enforcement—partnering with local law enforcement agencies to ensure traffic laws are obeyed in the vicinity of schools (including enforcement of speeds, yielding to pedestrians in crossings, and proper walking and bicycling behaviors), and to initiate community enforcement such as crossing guard programs.
   
• Encouragement—events and activities to promote walking and bicycling (bike rodeos).
   
• Evaluation—monitoring and documenting outcomes and trends through the collection of data both before and after the intervention.

To learn more about the Safe Routes to School Program at the Tennessee Department of Transportation, please visit http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/bikeped/saferoutes.htm or contact Diana Benedict, Program Coordinator, at (615) 253-2421 or diana.benedict@tn.gov.

The Washington County legislative delegation helped secure these Safe Routes to School funds for Johnson City.