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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
31 July 2006
Chattanooga and Hamilton County Pilot Federal Transportation
Program: Safe Routes to School
Safe Routes to
School
Public Open House August 3rd
3:30-7:30 pm
Development Resource Center
1250 Market Street
Hamilton Co., TN – Local academic,
engineering, health, planning, safety, and transportation
professionals joined together as part of “Activate
Chattanooga” to offer Safe Routes to School (SRTS) which
encourages and improves conditions for students to walk and bike to
school. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency
Senior Planner, local SRTS Coordinator and statewide SRTS Advisory
Committee member Melissa Taylor, in coordination with the
Chattanooga-Hamilton County / North Georgia Transportation Planning
Organization, has been working with the group since November 2005
to create a comprehensive program to offer priority schools each
year. This year Activate Chattanooga will be working with
nine schools: Battle Academy, Brown Academy, Chattanooga
Middle Museum Magnet, Dalewood Middle, East Lake Academy of Fine
Arts, Lakeside Academy of Math, Science and Technology, Normal Park
Museum Magnet, Big Ridge, and Thrasher Elementary to pilot the
program for the first time in Hamilton County. This program
provides schools the opportunity to receive federal funding for
sidewalks, bicycle facilities, crosswalks, and educational and
promotional programming. Activate Chattanooga will assist
local governments and non-profit organizations participating in the
program in the application process. Mrs. Taylor expects the
group will have an initial report detailing construction projects
and education programs for each school which may be submitted to
the Tennessee Department of Transportation for SRTS funding before
the end of September. To obtain more information about the
program, please attend the public open house any time between 3:30
and 7:30 PM Thursday, August 3rd at the Development
Resource Center, visit the Safe Routes to School Booth at the
Comcast First Day on August 5th at the First Tennessee
Pavilion, or stop by the Safe Routes table at one of the above
mentioned schools on Registration Day August 9th.
Additional information on Activate Chattanooga and Safe Routes to
School can be found at www.bikechattanooga.org
or www.chcrpa.org.
Safe
Routes to School is a national and international movement to create
safe, convenient, and fun opportunities for children to bicycle and
walk to school. Safe Routes to School provides a variety of
important benefits to kids and their communities, including
improved health, reduced traffic congestion, better air quality,
and enhanced neighborhood safety. Safe Routes to School is a
solution for the alarming nationwide trend toward child obesity and
inactivity.
SAFETEA-LU, the new federal transportation
bill that provides $286.5 billion in funding through September
2009, became law on August 10, 2005. It includes a $612 million
appropriation for a new national Safe Routes to School program that
will provide benefits in all 50 states. Tennessee has already
received over $2 million for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 that has
yet to be spent. The state will use these funds to provide
100% reimbursement to local governments and non-profit entities to
construct new bike lanes, pathways, and sidewalks, as well as to
launch Safe Routes education and promotion campaigns in elementary
and middle schools.
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