Public Comment: Salem-Keizer Area Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)

Salem Keizer Area Transportation Study (SKATS) invites you to review and comment on the FY 2018-2023 TIP – how transportation dollars can be spent over the next six years on transit, roadways, and bike and pedestrian facilities.

Comments on the TIP will be accepted until April 11, 2017. A public hearing is scheduled on April 25, 2017. 

Public Hearing for the SKATS Draft FY 2018-2023 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and Air Quality Conformity Determination (AQCD).

Date: April 25, 2017
Time: Noon
Where: 100 High Street SE, Suite 200, Salem, OR 97301

Send comments to: Karen Odenthal 503-540-1608 or kodenthal@mwvcog.org

More information, including an interactive map, and the opportunity to comment online, can be found on the MWVCOG website.

Below are the proposed Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects for the 2018-2023 TIP:

How should Portland spend $8M to improve safe access around schools?

Provide input on Safe Routes to School in March & April to have your say

Fixing Our Streets is a locally-funded street repair and traffic safety initiative that will bring much needed street improvement and safety projects to neighborhoods across Portland. It is expected to provide approximately $8 million for school neighborhood improvements along walking and biking routes to school — around $500,000 dedicated to each High School cluster (including the elementary and middle schools that feed into a particular high school).

Tell them what you think needs to happen around the schools to make walking and rolling to school safer and easier. Portland’s robust Safe Routes to School team hasn’t ever had this much money to spend on safety projects around schools, and now is the time to weigh in — especially if you access a school in the Portland Public (PPS), Parkrose, David Douglas, Reynolds, or Centennial School Districts.

If your student attends a PPS or Parkrose school, you can attend an Open House event to provide input (see schedule below). For David Douglas, Centennial, and Reynolds schools within Portland city limits, Portland’s Safe Routes to School staff will be organizing engagement opportunities at your schools – learn more: bit.ly/OpenHouseSRTS.

HOW TO GET YOUR VOICE HEARD

• Attend a SRTS Fixing Our Streets Open House (see dates below)
• Attend a Walk Audit with SRTS (specific schools in Wilson Cluster only)
• Attend a Walk Audit with Oregon Walks (specific Title I schools in PPS only)
  ‐ visit OregonWalks.org/HealthyTravel2School for details
• Submit specific concerns at saferoutespdx.org (for PPS schools only)
• Host a pop‐up open house at your school to collect comments from parents
  (SRTS will provide the materials!)

Step by Step: How to Create a Walking School Bus At Your School

Step by Step: How to Create a Walking School Bus At Your School is a new toolkit developed by the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, with support from the California Department of Public Health, that offers step-by-step guidelines, tips, and tools for planning and implementing a walking school bus program. Learn how to recruit adult volunteers, develop routes, promote the program, and ensure students have fun and stay safe along the way, with downloadable templates and worksheets to give you a fast and easy start.

Portland Public Schools Boundary Changes

UPDATE 11/16/15: Take an online survey through Dec. 1. More meetings added, below.

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Boundaries for many schools falling withing Portland Public’s District will be changing from the 2016-17 year. Proposals are out now (view Scenario 1 and Scenario 2). Many of the changes will make a difference to students’ ability to walk or roll to school; ultimately, most of the changes do not address a current problem of students required to cross “High Crash Corridors” to reach their assigned school.

In Portland, students from dozens of schools must cross or travel along a “High Crash Corridor” to get to their school. These dangerous roadways, just 3% of Portland’s road network, account for more than 50% of the city’s pedestrian fatalities. PPS redistricting should provide our families and communities with an opportunity to avoid crossing these High Crash Corridors on a daily basis, but in many cases they instead make it a requirement.

Speak up for your student’s safety! Learn more, take a look at the proposals, and consider attending an upcoming open house if you’d like to learn more, or to let PPS know that being able to safely walk and roll to school is important to your family.

Monday Nov. 9, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Hosford Middle School, 2303 SE 28th Place

Tuesday Nov. 10, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Cesar Chavez K-8, 5103 N Willis Blvd.

Thursday, Nov. 12, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Center for Intercultural Organizing, 700 N Killingsworth St.

Monday Nov. 16, 10 a.m. to noon, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, 8114 SE Division St.

Monday Nov. 16, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., West Sylvan Middle School, 8111 SW West Slope Dr.

Tuesday Nov. 17, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Charles Jordan Community Center, 9009 N. Foss Ave.

Tuesday Nov. 17, 6 pm to 8 pm, Madison High School, 2735 NE 82nd Ave., en Espanol

Wednesday Nov. 18, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m, Roseway Heights K-8, 7334 NE Siskiyou St.

Monday Nov. 23, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Markham K-5, 10531 SW Capitol Hwy.

Monday Nov. 23, 7 pm to 9 pm, Lane Middle School, 7200 SE 60th Ave.

Tuesday Nov. 24, 7 pm to 9 pm, King School, 4906 NE 6th Ave.

Can’t make a meeting? Ask questions & share your views directly to the boundary review committee: ppsgrows@pps.net

Getting Fired Up for Autumn

In August, our focus turns to the remaining vacation days we have yet to take… and what too-quickly arrives: the bustle of back to school.

Though the cool days of autumn seem far from us now, we have much to look forward to when it comes to keeping our kids active and healthy. As school schedules settle down, October is an exciting month for keeping routines for walking and biking to school, and getting physical activity throughout the day. Here are two great ways to keep moving in Oregon & SW Washington:

• Fire Up Your Feet Fall Challenge — October 1-31: Celebrate all forms of physical activity to school and throughout the community. Cash awards based on school participation & staying active during the month-long challenge.
• Walk+Bike to School Day — Wednesday, October 7: Celebrate this special day with thousands of schools internationally. Can your school reach 100% participation on this day?

In Oregon? Get started with registration here — the first 250 schools to register will receive a package of free incentives, while getting automatically signed up for both the Fire Up Your Feet Challenge and Walk+Bike to School Day.

In SW Washington? Get started here.

Everyone! Check out these & these encouragement ideas for assemblies, poster contests, bike rodeos, and more!

Milwaukie & Tigard Lead the Call for Healthy Kids and Safe Streets

The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is pleased to support the For Every Kid Coalition in the Pacific Northwest region. For Every Kid is a growing coalition calling for Safe Routes to School for every kid in the Metro-area; vocal support from cities and school districts is an outcome of key partners coming together to promote the benefits and work with communities and we have been an active part of the leadership of this effort.

Local leaders agree: creating safe options to walk, bike, or ride the bus to school is critical to improving the health of kids.

In March, in unanimous votes, Milwaukie and Tigard City Councils became the first cities to pass resolutions calling on the Metro Regional Government to meaningfully invest in a region-wide “Safe Routes to School” initiative.

“The ability to walk and bike safely is critical to school kids,” said Milwaukie City Councilor Mark Gamba. “The measure of any community is the safety and well-being of its children. I intend to see Milwaukie build the necessary infrastructure to create safe routes to school and move towards the eventual goal of being an utterly walkable and bikeable city.”

Families at Linwood Elementary took action to make walking and bicycling to school safer.

Efforts in Milwaukie kicked off in 2014 when local residents attended our Clackamas County meet & greet event to learn more about how they could make their communities safer for kids walking and bicycling while improving healthy transportation options. Parents at Linwood Elementary didn’t wait to jump on board for their kids’ safety, and the interest in Safe Routes to School has spread like wildfire throughout the City of Milwaukie and Clackamas County.

Following the passage of Milwaukie’s resolution on March 17th, Tigard City Council and Tigard Mayor John Cook joined the call, passing their own resolution on Tuesday.

The “Fire Up Your Feet” autumn challenge is on

This fall, Fire Up Your Feet is awarding more than $100,000 to K-8 schools across the country to support Safe Routes to School and other health and wellness programs. With awards in several categories, schools have even more chances to win.

Read below to find out about some of the awards that schools could win for the awesome work that they’re doing to help get kids moving safely to and from school, and take the next step by signing up at www.fireupyourfeet.org today!