Louisiana Safe Routes To School Program

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Louisiana Safe Routes To School Program

• Infrastructure Projects

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Purpose(Section 1404(b) of the legislation)

• To Enable And Encourage Children, Including Those
  With Disabilities, To Walk And Bicycle To School.
• To Make Bicycling And Walking To School A Safer
  And More Appealing Transportation Alternative,
  Thereby Encouraging A Healthy And Active
  Lifestyle From An Early Age And
• Continued on next slide

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Purpose (Continued)

• To Facilitate The Planning, Development And
  Implementation Of Projects And Activities That
  Will Improve Safety And Reduce Traffic, Fuel
  Consumption, And Air Pollution In The Vicinity Of
  Schools.

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Funding Categories

• INFRASTRUCTURE Generally those activities that
  involve the planning, design and construction of
  physical improvements
• NON-INFRASTRUCTURE Generally those activities
  related to education and the encouragement of
  walking and bicycling to school as well as
  enforcement and evaluation

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Guiding Principles

• Infrastructure is a prerequisite
• Relationships between all components are
  everything
• Easy to implement, low cost solutions should be
  implemented first

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Guiding Principles (cont.)

• Improvements requiring substantial time and
  financial commitment are identified and an
  implementation plan developed
• Engineering treatments are matched to the type of
  problem

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SRTS Summary Goals

• Where its safe, get kids bicycling and walking
  to school.
• Where its not safe, make the changes necessary
  to make it safe.

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Infrastructure Examples

• Sidewalk improvements (new, repairs,etc.)
• Traffic calming/speed reduction improvements
• Pedestrian/bicycle crossing improvements
• On-street bicycle facilities
• Off-street bicycle/pedestrian facilities
• Bicycle parking facilities
• Traffic diversion improvements

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La Infrastructure Examples

• Sidewalks, Bike/Ped. paths
• Pedestrian bridge renovation
• Flashing school zone lights
• Bike racks
• Crosswalks and signs

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Location

• State highway or local roads
• Must be within 2 miles of a primary or middle
  school
• Must be public right of way
• Property acquisition must conform to Federal
  requirements

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Engineering

• Creates safer conditions for walking and
  bicycling
• Can influence the way people behave

West Valley City, UT
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Engineering Tools Outline

• Develop a school route map
• The school zone
• Along the school route
• Crossing the street
• Slowing down traffic

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Identify Safe School Routes

• Develop a school route map
• Neighborhood Walk-abouts and Bike-abouts
• Walking and Bicycling Audits
• Parent and student surveys
• Develop a school traffic control plan

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School Route Maps
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School Traffic Control Plan
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The School Zone

• Signs and Pavement Markings
• MUTCD (http//mutcd.fhwa.dot)
• Yellow-Green school signs
• School Speed Limits
• In-street signing
• Other

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Along the School Route

• Safe and well designed facilities
• ADA requirements
• Sidewalks
• Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation
  of Pedestrian facilities (AASHTO)
• Recommend 5 width
• Bicycle facilities
• Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities
  (AASHTO)

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Crossing the Street

• Identify good crossing locations
• Reduce crossing distances
• Use appropriate traffic controls
• Are Traffic volumes and/or speed a safety problem

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Slowing Down Traffic

• Traffic calming
• Radar speed displays
• Speed humps
• Other design elements

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Engineering Considerations

• AASHTO Design Guides
• ADA Requirements
• DOTD Requirements
• Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)

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Summary of Solutions

• Sidewalks
• Signs and Markings
• Traffic calming/diversion

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New Sidewalk Problems

• Drainage
• Piping ditches is expensive
• Right-of-Way
• Acquisition must conform to FHWA requirements
• Utilities
• Relocation
• Adjustments

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• Developing
• a
• Program

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Comprehensive SRTS Program

• The 5 Es
• Engineering
• Education
• Encouragement
• Enforcement
• Evaluation

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Developing An SRTS Program

• Identify The Problem(s)
• Develop Solutions
• Infrastructure Improvements
• Non-Infrastructure Activities
• Estimate Cost
• Develop An Action Plan
• Develop An Evaluation Plan

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Problem IdentificationNo spin just the facts

• Organize
• Assess Current Environment
• Assess Existing Infrastructure
• Identify Safety Problems
• Collect Data

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Organize(Form A Team)

• SCHOOL (Principal, staff, student)
• LOCAL GOVERNMENT (Enforcement, DPW, School Board,
  etc.)
• PARENTS (PTO, etc.)
• OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES
• ENGINEER (Traffic or other)
• CHAMPION (Someone who can keep things moving)

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Assess Current Environment

• Identify students who
• Currently walk or bike to school
• Take bus or driven to school
• Live within one or two miles of school
• Could potentially walk or biketo school
• SRTS student and parent surveys
• See SRTS website

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• Meadowview Elem.

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Assess Infrastructure

• Sidewalks, Paths, Etc
• Barriers
• Operational
• Other Problems

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Engineering Solutions

• First, consider low cost, easy to implement
  solutions
• Identify and program longer-term improvement
  needs
• Match the treatment to the problem

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Engineering Solutions (Cont.)

• Provide Safe Street Crossings
• Keep it simple
• Shorten crossing distances
• Carefully select crossing locations and marked
  crosswalks
• Control Traffic Speed

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Identify Safety Problems

• Actual Safety Problems
• Perceived Safety Problems

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Actual Safety Problems

• Observations
• Around The School, Along The School Route,
  Crossing The Street, Traffic Behavior Etc.
• Collect Data
• Crash Data From Local Police
• Crime Data
• Traffic volume and speed data

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Perceived Safety Problems

• Surveys
• Parents
• Children
• Types
• Traffic
• Crime
• Other

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Other Problems

• Weather
• Backpacks
• Too Far
• Etc.

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Identify Potential Solutions

• Improve Facilities
• Engineering
• Change Driver Behavior
• Engineering
• Enforcement
• Encourage Students/Parents
• Educate
• Students/Parents/Teachers

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Link The Solution/Problem

• Identify The Impact Of The Proposed Solution In
  Regards To The Identified Problem
• Increased Safety?
• More children walking/bicycling to school?
• Reduced speeds?
• Change in behavior?

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Develop Infrastructure Cost Estimates

• Engineering
• Construction
• Operations

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Develop Non-infrastr. Cost Estimates

• Encouragement
• Education
• Enforcement
• Evaluation

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Develop An Action Plan

• List All Identified Problems And Solutions With
  The Cost Of Each
• Prioritize
• Develop A Time Frame For Accomplishing
• Identify Potential Source Of Funds For Each
• Identify Steps To Put Plan Into Motion

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Summary

• A comprehensive strategy must be used to achieve
  the goals of the program.
• The 5 Es should be applied to solve identified
  problems.