Safe Routes to School

Park Ridge aldermen have delayed a plan to build a stretch of multiuse path along a busy highway that would have made it easier for kids to walk and bike to school, in order to avoid chipping in city funds on the project. Another factor in the decision may have been concerns from local school board members that the trail would tempt children to make unsafe crossings at unsignalized intersections to access the bikeway.

Over the summer administrators and parents from the Chicago Academy for the Arts, a private school located at 1010 West North Avenue contacted us about their campaign to improve pedestrian safety near the school. In particular they were concerned about the Chicago/Milwaukee/Ogden intersection, one of the most crash-prone in the city, located a block west of the school.

There are many reasons why biking to school is beneficial to children, and for society in general. It provides physical activity, which is obviously key for good health and has been shown to improve performance in the classroom. It also helps with the traffic safety, congestion, and pollution issues associated with the widespread use of private cars to take children to school. That’s why the city of Chicago has generally encouraged biking to the public schools by installing bike racks and bike lanes, and through bike education initiatives like the city’s Bicycling Ambassadors.

In the wake of new analysis that shows nearly five children are struck by drivers within a block of an Illinois school every day, the Active Transportation Alliance is spearheading a campaign to overhaul the state’s Safe Routes to School program. “We’re really hoping to highlight the program, and also emphasize the need to improve it and put more funding behind it,” said campaign manager Erin McMillan.

Last weekend, the Illinois Department of Transportation announced that Oak Park will receive a $12,000 federal Safe Routes to School grant to purchase a trailer, bicycles, helmets and supporting materials for its local Kids on Wheels education program. This will likely be the first time SRTS funds have been used for a fleet of training bikes, according to Active Transportation Alliance spokesman Ted Villaire.

I recently moved to the Windy City from Portland, Oregon, where I had served as a member of the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee at the state level for bike and pedestrian issues. So I came into last Wednesday's meeting of the Mayor's Pedestrian Advisory Council excited to hear the breadth and depth of pedestrian advocacy and projects happening in Chicago. Based on my experience in Oregon, I expected a meeting structured around deliberate conversation and debate. Instead, what I saw was an information session.

Illinois students celebrate National Walk and Bike to School Day. Photo: Champaign-Urbana MTD

[This article also appeared in print in Checkerboard City, John Greenfield's transportation column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.]