Kansas Safe Routes to Schools Program
Application 2007
Please complete the information below and include it as the first page of the proposal.
Review the Application Guidance prior to filling out the application. The person
identified as the “Contact” will be the main point of contact for KDOT staff.
Applicant (name of organization): City of Lawrence, KS
Organization Type: City
Sponsoring Public Authority: City of Lawrence, KS
Contact Person: Chuck Soules
Title: Director of Public Works
Mailing Address: PO Box 708
City/State/Zip: Lawrence, KS 66044
Daytime Phone: (785) 832-3124 Fax: (785) 830-4966
Email Address: csoules@ci.lawrence.ks.us
School District: USD 497
School Names: New York Elementary, Langston Hughes Elementary
Type of Funding Requested: Phase 1
Amount of Funding Requested: $14,200
________________________________________________ __________________
Signature and Title of Person Submitting Proposal* Date
*By signing, applicant admits to being authorized to sign for the City of Lawrence and that all information contained herein is true and correct to the best of his/her knowledge.
Submissions – Three (3) complete sets of the application (including all support material)
must be submitted with a postmark of no later than May 4th, 2007 (Phase 1) or July 27th, 2007
(Phase 2). Mail applications to Lisa Koch, State Safe Routes to Schools Coordinator, Kansas
Dept of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Engineering, 700 SW Harrison, 6th Floor, Topeka, KS
66603-3754.
Section 1: What are the current conditions for bicycling and walking in your school area?
New York Elementary School
New York Elementary School is located in an East Lawrence neighborhood with narrow streets and older homes. Residences in the area are
rental properties, single family homes owned by families, and single family
units owned by senior citizens. Many of the sidewalks in the area are in need
of repair.
New York Elementary has a diverse population of
around 140 students in grades K-6. Free or reduced price lunches are received
by 86% of the students, and 35% of the students are children from single parent
households. An estimated 40 students currently walk to school, and 25 currently
bike to school. Students in grades K-3 are not allowed to ride bikes to school
per district policy. No students are eligible for busing because they all live
within a two mile radius from the school, the minimum distance for busing
eligibility. All students therefore stand to benefit from a Safe Routes to
Schools program.
Students face many challenges and obstacles to walking or bicycling to New York Elementary. Traffic is heavy along narrow streets lined with parked cars on both sides. Many sidewalks are in disrepair, which encourages students to walk and bike in the streets. One of the main routes to the school, Connecticut Street, and many of the alleys leading toward the school, are viewed as so dangerous that few students and parents feel safe enough to travel by them. In addition, students report that a few residences along main routes to the school are not safe to walk past.
A number of steps have already been taken to address pedestrian and bicycle safety around New York Elementary. Three years ago the Parent Teacher Organization and East Lawrence Neighborhood Association successfully lobbied for school crossing signs to be relocated closer to the school and in more visible locations. The intersections of 9th Street and 10th Street with New York Street were both changed to 4-way stops. The Lawrence Pedestrian Advisory Committee and the City’s Traffic Safety Commission studied possible locations for a stoplight or push button activated pedestrian crossing light. Earlier this year the City Commission approved the location of a push button activated pedestrian crossing light on 11th Street between New York and New Jersey Streets. New York Elementary continues to work with the school district to create a safe drop off zone out of the way of traffic on New York Street.
- New York Elementary School
Langston Hughes Elementary School
Langston Hughes Elementary School is located in a relatively newly developed area of West Lawrence. A significant amount of construction of both residences and streets has taken place in the past few years. The school is located on George Williams Way, formerly a dead end street that has recently been extended to connect to a major arterial. This and other street openings have resulted in increased traffic around the school. Fewer children are bused now that most street have been completed.
Langston Hughes Elementary has a population of 384 students in grades K-6. It is estimated that around 100 students walk and 30 students bike to school when the weather is good. Students in grades K-3 are not allowed to ride bikes to school per district policy. Students living more than two miles from the school are eligible for busing (83% of students live within two miles, meaning that currently 318 out of 384 students are not eligible for busing). All of the students who are not eligible for busing stand to benefit from a Safe Routes to Schools Program, but school officials estimate that 100-250 students at Langston Hughes would realistically be beneficiaries.
Various obstacles to biking and walking to Langston Hughes Elementary have arisen as the surrounding neighborhoods have developed. While the City did station a crossing guard at George Williams Way and Harvard Road, many parents feel that another is needed at George Williams Way and Bob Billings Parkway. The City has not granted a crossing guard for that location because the pedestrian counts so far have not warranted it. Many parents feel that if a crossing guard was present at that location, many more students would be able to walk there, but without the crossing guard there will never be enough walkers to warrant the crossing guard – a typical catch-22 situation in the world of crossing guard warrants.
Various actions have been taken to address the obstacles to walking and biking to Langston Hughes Elementary. After a roundabout was constructed at George Williams Way and Harvard Road, some parents remarked that it was too tall for children to see cars coming around it. The City stationed a crossing guard at the location. Initiatives at the school include participation in Walk to School Day and the Bobcat Marathon sponsored by the Parent Teacher Organization and Site Council. The Bobcat Marathon is an activity every Tuesday and Thursday morning that encourages students to walk a mile before school starts for the day.
- Langston Hughes Elementary School
Section 2: Describe your proposed project/activity. How will the project/activity
help to solve the concerns that were identified in Section 1?
A coalition of city, school and neighborhood representatives will cooperate to study the pedestrian and bicycle challenges and successes at New York Elementary and Langston Hughes Elementary in order to form a Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) Plan. The plan will focus on the “5 E’s” of SRTS – engineering, education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation.
The Lawrence SRTS Coalition will direct the formation of the SRTS Plan, and will include at least the following:
§ Public Works Director, City of Lawrence
§ Traffic Engineer, City of Lawrence
§ Principal, New York Elementary School
§ Principal, Langston Hughes Elementary
§ Transportation and Safety Director, USD 497
§ President, East Lawrence Neighborhood Association
§ President, West Lawrence Neighborhood Association
§ President, New York Elementary School PTO
§ President, Langston Hughes Elementary School PTO
§ Chairperson, Lawrence Pedestrian Advisory Committee
The involvement of other stakeholders and representatives of the organizations listed above will be sought by the SRTS Coalition.
The first task for the SRTS Coalition will be to gather baseline data and precisely identify the reasons more children are not walking or biking to school. Such data will include traffic information such as speeds, counts, accidents and infractions; number of children walking and biking to school and their routes; pedestrian and driver behavior near and on school property; sidewalk, bike lane and road conditions near the school; and other barriers (including attitudinal) to walking or bicycling to school. The City of Lawrence has already done some limited traffic studies near the schools, but as part of the SRTS process would do more comprehensive studies on the pedestrian and bicycle routes around the schools. The Student Arrival and Departure Tally Sheet and Parents Survey About Walking and Biking to School would be utilized.
After gathering baseline data the Coalition will prepare reports on walking and bicycling, including maps of routes used by pedestrians and bicyclists. The reports will be presented in public meetings hosted by the schools and the PTOs. Public comments regarding the problems and possible solutions will be solicited both verbally and through surveys distributed at the meetings. Further research and deliberation will then be conducted by the Coalition to produce the primary products of the SRTS Plan, which will include the following:
§ A prioritized list of needed engineering improvements (sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic signals, etc.). This list will assist the City in making capital improvement funding decisions.
§ A public education and encouragement program tailored to address the specific behaviors and problems identified by the Coalition’s data gathering efforts. The program will not only educate but encourage children and parents to make healthy and safe choices. The primary target populations will be students and parents. Secondary target populations will include drivers near the schools and public officials who have the power to implement the infrastructure and educational components of the SRTS Plan.
§ Evaluation will produce reliable before-and-after data regarding issues related to walking and bicycling to school.
§ Traffic data along with input from interested parties will specifically identify when, where and what types of greater enforcement are needed.
Governmental sponsorship will be provided by the City of Lawrence, which is initiating the creation of a SRTS Plan, and USD 497, whose schools will be hosting most of the public activities necessary for the creation and implementation of the SRTS Plan. Public involvement and education will be coordinated and sponsored by the schools and their Parent Teacher Organizations.
The City of Lawrence Department of Public Works will be responsible for managing the SRTS application process and the development of a SRTS Plan. The Public Works Department will also be responsible for the implementation of infrastructure projects and public education projects targeted at individuals not associated with the schools. The Public Works Department will also maintain the overall SRTS program and move it towards a Phase II application. USD 497, New York Elementary School, Langston Hughes Elementary School, the PTOs and the Neighborhood Associations will be responsible for the implementation of public education campaigns targeted at students and parents. Continued maintenance of public infrastructure such as crosswalks and traffic signals will be the responsibility of the City. Sidewalks would be maintained by adjacent property owners, in accordance with City and State laws.
Section 3: Describe your timeline from project/activity start to finish.
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Month 1 |
Month 2 |
Month 3 |
Month 4 |
Month 5 |
Month 6 |
Month 7 |
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Recruit SRTS Coalition Partners |
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Conduct traffic counts |
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Conduct student and parent surveys |
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Prepare reports on walking and biking activities |
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Present walking and biking reports at PTO meetings |
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Prepare SRTS Plan with survey reports and comments from public meetings |
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SRTS Plan Completed |
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Begin preparation of Phase II application |
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Complete Phase II SRTS application |
Section 4: Who are your partners? What collaborations have you created to ensure the success of your project/activity? (Maximum 3 pages)
The City of Lawrence Public Works Department initiated and managed the application process for this Phase I application. The Lawrence Pedestrian Advisory Committee hosted a meeting of representatives of the school district, the schools and the neighborhoods to gather the information necessary for this application.
A resolution of Support and Administration from the City of Lawrence is attached to this application.
Supports letters from the following individuals and organizations are attached to this application:
§ USD 497 Board of Education
§ New York Elementary School
§ Langston Hughes Elementary School
§ Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization
§ Transportation and Safety Director, USD 497
§ East Lawrence Neighborhood Association
§ West Lawrence Neighborhood Association
§ New York Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization
§ Langston Hughes Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization
§ Lawrence Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Section 5: How will you measure your success? What method will you use to determine whether more children are biking or walking to school?
Among other things, the Safe Routes to Schools Plan will identify the needs for infrastructure improvements around the school. Improvements could include sidewalk installation and/or repair, installation of traffic calming devices, and installation of pedestrian or other traffic signals. The public meetings and work of the Coalition will explore the best alternatives for the specific needs and locations identified as problems. The plan will produce a prioritized list of infrastructure improvements, and the City will provide cost estimates for use in a Phase II SRTS application. The SRTS Plan will also identify what type of public education, encouragement and enforcement needs exist and plan appropriate activities to address those needs.
The outcomes of the infrastructure improvements and public education efforts will include higher percentages of children walking and bicycling to school, and lower incidences of traffic accidents and infractions at trouble spots around the school.
Baseline measures will be established through the use of SRTS materials such as the Student Arrival and Departure Tally Sheet and Parents Survey About Walking and Biking to School for the statistics regarding walking, biking, busing and driving practices of students and parents. The City of Lawrence will provide data regarding traffic counts and speeds, accidents and infractions.
Section 6: Cost estimate for projects/activities.
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Lawrence Safe Routes to Schools – Budget for Phase I Activities |
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Item |
Requested SRTS Funds |
Value of Donated Services |
Total Costs |
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Personnel |
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Traffic Engineer |
$0 |
$3,000 |
$3,000 |
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Consulting Firm |
$12,000 |
$0 |
$12,000 |
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Equipment and Supplies |
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Curriculum |
$1,000 |
$0 |
$1,000 |
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Printing – Meeting Handouts |
$100 |
$0 |
$100 |
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Printing – Surveys |
$100 |
$0 |
$100 |
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Facilities |
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Use of city and school bldgs |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
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Promotion/Advertising |
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Newspaper Ads |
$500 |
$0 |
$500 |
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Radio Ads |
$500 |
$0 |
$500 |
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TOTAL |
$14,200 |
$3,000 |
$17,200 |
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Resolutions of Support and Administration
[Insert Resolution of Support and Administration from City of Lawrence]
Letters of Support
[Insert letter of support from USD 497 School Board]
[Insert letter of support from NY Elementary principal]
[Insert letter of support from Langston Hughes Elementary Principal]
[Insert letter of support from MPO]
[Insert letter of support from Transportation and Safety Director, USD 497]
[Insert letter of support from East Lawrence Neighborhood Association]
[Insert letter of support form West Lawrence Neighborhood Association]
[Insert letter of support from NY Elementary PTO]
[Insert letter of support from Langston Hughes PTO]
[Insert letter of support from Lawrence Pedestrian Advisory Committee]