(Photo © Jonathan Maus)
Eleven Portland-area elementary schools have received grants from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to improve and sustain their Safe Routes to Schools programs.
The schools (see list below) have received a total of nearly $600,000 from the federally funded program that works to make it easier and safer for kids to walk and bike to school.
The grant consists of two separate awards; a $100,000 non-infrastructure grant that will go toward hiring “site organizers”, and $500,000 for capital improvements (these might include improved sidewalks, pedestrian refuge islands, bike parking, etc…).
25 Portland schools currently participate in the Safe Routes program which is funded through PDOT’s Community and Schools Traffic Safety Partnership (CSTSP) and implemented by both PDOT and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA).
A media event to announce the grants is planned later this month at Kelly Elementary School in Southeast Portland.
Along with Kelly, the other ten elementary schools that will benefit from the grant are Atkinson, Capitol Hill, Chapman, Chief Joseph, Faubion, Forest Park, Gilbert Heights, Rosa Parks, Sacramento and Sunnyside.