OREGON, Ohio — Every child deserves the opportunity to travel to school safely, which is why Oregon City Schools said they are proud to be a safe route to school initiative beneficiary.
This year, the district's assistant superintendent, dean Sandwisch, said the city of Oregon's school travel plan will include new developments. Families could see these developments as early as this summer.
2024 is the 10-year anniversary of the National Safe Routes to School initiative, which sought to makes routes to school safer for children. It's been nine years since the initiative became federally funded.
A study shows that in 1969, nearly 50 percent of all children in the United States, and nearly 90 percent of those within a mile of school, walked or bicycled to school. Today, that number has plummeted to fewer than 15 percent. While fewer students may be walking to school, more vehicles on the road presents a greater threat to students who walk or bike.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has partnered with Oregon City Schools, the community of Oregon, the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department and many others to produce a travel plan that supports the safe route initiative. In February of this year, Oregon's city council endorsed the newest plan and its objectives.
The current 2024 school travel plan draft maps out more than 80 infrastructure design recommendations including new sidewalks, high visibility cross walk signs and shared use paths.
Sandswisch said sidewalks alone would be a major improvement for students.
"Currently, if you look at the beginning or the end of the school day, we do have students who walk on the side of the road to get to school," he said. "At the crosswalk, we don't have a light, so it's kind of a 'Russian roulette' that they run across. It will just make it much safer and calmer for our students to get to school."
Sandwisch said the 2024 travel plan was created to build a healthy community that promotes safe habits for all ages. He said convenient, comfortable and safe ways to walk and cycle was all meant to be a part of that plan. Sandwisch said he is grateful to have the city's support.
"It really is an initiative by the city of Oregon," he said. "They write the grant, but we have been through at least three rounds, and I think this is the fourth one. It just allows us to have sidewalks in neighborhoods that we normally wouldn't. We have crossing lights and beacons; it's just really good for all of our walkers," Sandwisch said.
Sandwisch said the City of Oregon used a contracted engineering and consulting company to create the newest safe routes the school plan when writing the grant.
He said the city and their consultants created a survey for community feedback. The schools distributed the survey to students and their families at the beginning of 2024.
Sandwisch said the community's input was very important in the process of making the 2024 travel plan. And he said next month during their school board meeting, their agenda is set to include a resolution in support of the changes.
"We want to support the city's plan to help with their grant writing," Sandwisch said.
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