The Connecticut Safe Routes to School program is making progress in providing safe walking and bicycling improvements around schools and communities! The Safe Routes to School infrastructure program just recently completed its fourth funding cycle, awarding more than $3 million in funding. Six awarded projects will benefit nine schools in six communities around the state with improvements such as sidewalk installation, bike lanes, multiuse paths, school zone signs and pavement markings.
A total of $8 million in Safe Routes to School funding has been awarded since program inception for 20 construction projects which will service a total of 29 schools in 16 communities around the state. More than half of the Safe Routes to School projects already programmed for construction have been completed, impacting more than 7,000 students in towns and cities such as Manchester, Fairfield, New Britain and Stamford.
The latest completed Safe Routes to School project, located in New Haven, Connecticut, was finished this June. The City of New Haven was awarded $500,000 in Safe Routes to School funds in 2010 for curb extensions, paved crosswalks, traffic calming improvements and new sidewalks to connect surrounding neighborhoods to Fair Haven School. These improvements will provide safe pedestrian and bicycle access to the school.
In addition, more than $600,000 in non-infrastructure funding has been provided for Safe Routes to School planning services for 34 schools statewide. Plus, the Safe Routes to School program and the Connecticut Police Academy just successfully hosted its second statewide crossing guard train-the-trainer class on June 20!
For more information on the Connecticut Safe Routes to School program, please contact Sharon Okoye, SRTS coordinator at 860-594-2367 or visit the program’s website and/or Facebook page.