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City setting its sights on school route safety |
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Friday, 17 October 2008 |
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By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
10-16-2008 Bishop is making strides to provide safer paths for students on their journey to and from school.
The Grove Street Sidewalks project has been in the works for a while, but now a cooperative agreement with Caltrans will make the project a reality.
The project will improve and upgrade West Grove from Main to Home streets, a major thoroughfare for students.
This project is part of the statewide Safe Routes to Schools Program (SR2S) sponsored by the California Department of Transportation.
“Inyo County received one of the biggest chunks of money from the program,” Public Works Director Dave Grah told the Bishop City Council at its meeting on Tuesday. That amount was $894,000 and approved in March 2008.
The city first applied for grants in January 2007, but was rejected. The city had to reapply in November 2007, this time including letters of support from local schools, educational groups and law enforcement agencies, and was approved.
A stipulation of SR2S funding requires a minimum 10 percent matching fund, in this case $174,000.
Caltrans District 9 Local Assistance Engineer Ryan Dermody said Wednesday morning by phone that a cooperative agreement was made between Caltrans and the city to help with the matching funds.
Because part of the project is to be on Main Street (U.S. 395), Dermody explained that it is not the city’s responsibility to make improvements to that corner of Main and Grove.
So, Caltrans decided to provide the matching funds if the city would make improvements to that intersection by upgrading the curb ramps.
“Caltrans thought it would be a good project so we decided to supplement the funding,” Dermody explained.
This agreement was developed using the similar agreement recently approved by the council for the Wye Road Intersection Improvements project as a template.
Labor for the Wye Road project and the Grove Street project will be conducted by the city, and Caltrans will supply some funding to these projects, citing that it considers them valuable and in the best interests of both entities.
The project will provide a safe route to schools for those on foot or bike by constructing or reconstructing shoulders, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, ramps and driveways on Grove Street between Main and Home streets.
According to Public Works, with the exception of the lack of sidewalks and adequate shoulders, Grove Street is the safest, most logical, and direct path from most residential areas in the city, especially those east of Main Street, to the four public schools in Bishop.
The Safe Routes to Schools program is an international movement that tries to encourage and increase the number of students who walk or bike to school. This is accomplished by funding projects that advocate and promote walking and bicycling through education programs aimed at children, parents and the community.
The Grove Street project is slated to begin construction in early 2009 and is estimated to cost $1,068,000.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 November 2008 )
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