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City encourages students to bike and walk to school

By John Geluardi Daily Planet staff
Thursday September 20, 2001

About 45 people, including concerned parents, principals and representatives of five different city departments, attended a Safe Routes to Schools meeting Tuesday to kick off the program’s second year with a resolution that inspired one principal to break into song. 

On Sept. 12, the California State Senate approved a bill that will provide $70 million for communities statewide that want to create safer routes to schools and educate students, parents and teachers about the benefits of walking or riding a bike to school. The bill is currently being considered by Gov. Gray Davis for approval. 

SRTS organizers said they were encouraged to see such broad interest in the program from school and city officials.  

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who attended the meeting, said it’s important for students to learn how to be independent of cars at an early age. 

“If you can encourage students to walk or ride their bicycles to school and then teach them how to do it safely, they will continue the habit as they get older,” Worthington said. “Tonight’s meeting was a profound affirmation by teachers, principals and parents who will work together to support Safe Routes to School programs.” 

The meeting was also attended by representatives from the city’s Planning and Development Department, Police Department, Health and Human Services and the Department of Public Works. There were also two members of the Transportation Commission and two School Board members in attendance. 

“I was very inspired with the statements of support by the city’s five departments,” said Safe Routes to Schools’ Project Manager Sarah Syed. “It was nice to see school board members inspired by the project as well.” 

The Berkeley SRTS organizers say the number of kids who walk or ride their bikes to school has dropped from 60 percent in the 1960s to only 13 percent today. The result, organizers say, is unhealthy kids, heavier traffic and a more polluted environment. 

The SRTS program, which is organized by the Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition, gained momentum in March 2000, with the release of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Task Force Report. The report showed that Berkeley has the highest rates of pedestrian and bicycle injuries compared to 44 other California cities of similar size. 

SRTS works with individual schools to identify unsafe conditions and then contracts with California Department of Transportation to modify the dangerous conditions. Last year the program received $450,000 to make the routes to Willard Middle School and Le Conte Elementary safer.  

The traffic modifications, which have not yet been implemented, include the installation of traffic signals on Telegraph Avenue at Stuart Street and at Russell Street, “bulb outs” and pedestrian islands along heavy traffic routes near both schools, and fluorescent school signs. Both schools will also construct bike cages so bicycles are less likely to be stolen. 

“We will be applying for another half million (dollars) in May so we can start working on other Berkeley schools,” Syed said.  

Syed added the city’s 12 elementary and three middle schools will be served by the program according to need and how well organized parent and teacher groups are. 

Syed said that Malcolm X Elementary and Longfellow Middle School were likely candidates because they are on busy streets and Rosa Parks Elementary was also on the list because the parents and school staff are highly organized, which make implementing the SRTS program easier. 

Principals and teachers all said there is a clear need for the program. 

Julie Guilfoy, a teacher at Willard School, said the environment for students walking or riding to school is not friendly. “I ride my bike to work every day and I see kids struggling with traffic and driver road rage on a regular basis,” she said. 

Washington Elementary Principal Rita Kimball said it’s important for the community to make traveling to school safer. “We have so many kids at our school and cars travel at very high speeds on nearby streets,” she said. “The situation is not safe.” 

Kimball said other problems are created by parents dropping off and picking up their kids in front of the school. “Because of our location there is no good place for parents to drop off,” she said. “There are only four or five spaces on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, and that causes traffic problems and upsets the neighbors.” 

Kimball said another issue is providing a safe place for bicycles once the student arrives at school. She added that at least three bicycles were stolen from school grounds last year. “People used heavy-duty bolt cutters to cut through bike locks and chains,” she said. “We need bike cages so the students feel safe bringing their bikes to school.” 

Syed said all of the problems Kimball mention can be addressed by SRTS committees, which would be organized at each school. The committees would consist of school staff, parents, healthcare workers and school neighbors. 

At the end of the meeting Syed asked each of the four principals at the meeting to read aloud a portion of a resolution declaring their interests in making school routes safer. Kimball was so inspired by the meeting that she broke into song while reading her portion of the resolution. 

For more information about the Berkeley Safe Routes to School program call 548-7433.