Safe Routes to School takes kids off the streets and onto the sidewalks and pathways.
It can be as simple as painting arrows and setting out orange cones in a parking lot to direct traffic flow, or restriping crosswalks in front of a school; or it can involve construction projects such as new sidewalks and pathways, curbs and gutters. But whatever the means, the goal remains the same – ensure safe routes to school.
Safe Routes to School is part of a San Diego County initiative that creates safe and walkable communities. The program involves several agencies: federal Housing and Urban Development, Caltrans, County Department of Housing and Community Development, (HCD) and the County Department of Public Works (DPW). The initiative is funded by Community Development Block Grants, DPW road funds, and other state and federal grants.
Each year, HCD solicits applications from residents, participating cities, various County departments, schools, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and community based organizations. Proposals that meet HUD requirements are then brought before the County Board of Supervisors.
“The Board of Supervisors has been very supportive of using this funding source to improve local routes to school,” said Todd Henderson, director of HCD. “Creating safe and walkable communities is just one of the ways the County is working to promote healthier options for area residents.”
“There’s a lot going on in the school zone,” said Kenton Jones, a manager in DPW’s traffic engineering section. “You have 20- and 40-foot buses, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists who are not only coming into and leaving the school zone, but also crossing through it.”
Maria Rubio-Lopez is a school liaison officer with DPW. She and her team often work with school officials, the local PTA, and students.
“We will go in and survey the school site, where,” as she explains it, “controlled chaos happens twice a day – just before arrival, and again at dismissal. The team looks first at how traffic flows into and around the parking lot, or if it queues up on the street. How the traffic moves, or doesn’t move.
“We look for additional on-site space. Is there a parking lot in the back? Someplace where we can loop and queue them up.”
In El Cajon, the student council of Valhalla High School contacted the team as part of a government project. They had concerns about street traffic as well as parking lot congestion. The DPW team met with student leaders, school principal and teachers, CHP, and County Supervisor Dianne Jacob.
“We identified a set of solutions that included optimized signal timing for entering and exiting the parking lot and proposed a new traffic flow,” said Rubio-Lopez.
At El Capitan High School in Lakeside vehicles were coming and going using multiple access points which led to mass confusion and congestion in the street that is already a busy roadway. Missing delineators – those tall orange or yellow plastic tubes we often see in the roadways – were replaced, several others were added, and school buses exiting the lot were rerouted which improved circulation not only on Ashwood Street, but also on surrounding roadways.
“A key component of Safe Routes is minimizing confusion,” said Rubio-Lopez.
Other fixes can include installing pedestrian-activated traffic signals, re-synchronizing traffic control signals, installing signs indicating a school bus stop or simply restriping crosswalks.
Each year, DPW crews maintain school zone, speed limit and pedestrian zone signs, and refresh pavement markings at 76 public elementary schools, 22 middle-schools and 23 high schools, as well as 12 private schools in the County’s unincorporated area.
Sometimes the Safe Routes program extends well past the school parking lot and out into the community.
Todd Henderson recalls seeing a mother walking her child to school while also pushing a baby stroller. Where the sidewalk ended, her route became the dirt shoulder alongside the roadway. New sidewalks and bike paths are now in place, making the route to school and the neighborhood safer.
Department of Public Works Capital Improvements Division secures the funding, designs and oversees these projects. In recent years, thousands of linear feet of new sidewalks, bike paths and curbs and gutters have been constructed throughout the unincorporated County.
In Lakeside, more than 4,000 linear feet of new sidewalks and other safety enhancements along Lakeview Road and surrounding streets are going in to serve Lakeview Elementary School. In Spring Valley, DPW crews will install more than 1200 linear feet of new sidewalks, curb and gutter to connect existing sidewalks along Sweetwater Road for Bancroft Elementary School.
“The purpose of these capital improvement projects is to provide the infrastructure to enable children to safety walk and ride their bikes to school,” said Orelia DeBraal, a program manager with Public Works.
Monies from state and federal grants are also used for public education programs to promote walking and biking safety.
“It’s a three-pronged approach,” said Jones. “You have education, engineering and enforcement. We rely on the schools for the education; we will come in and do the engineering; and then we rely on the CHP for enforcement.”
The CHP helps ensure traffic safety, and especially, posted speed limits are enforced.
“Safe and efficient,” said Rubio-Lopez. “Those are the key words.”