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Trading the carpool for walking shoes

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Staff


By Kate Griesmann

Staff Writer

Carrboro—The days of walking and riding your bike to and from school may soon be returning to Carrboro. The Town of Carrboro held a drop-in open house Monday to solicit community comments and feedback to be used in developing an action plan through Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS), a nationally funded program that encourages students to walk and bike to school.

Carrboro is currently involved in three SRTS projects, the foremost of them being the action plan that will identify safe ways for students to walk or bike to Carrboro and McDougle elementary schools from surrounding neighborhoods.

“We are trying to figure out what is preventing people from walking and biking and how to address those fears,” said Carrboro Transportation Manager Jeff Brubaker. “Residents, parents and teachers from both schools showed up and offered comments for areas that could be improved.”

Specifically, the town was able to identify several neighborhoods where – though close enough to school for students to walk or bike – cars are the primary means of transportation for students. It’s areas like these that the town will focus on when mapping out walking and biking routes and encouraging the community to take advantage of them.

The action plan is being developed through a grant that requires the town to focus on one or two schools. Going forward, Brubaker hopes to turn some attention to Morris Grove Elementary and improve pedestrian and biking routes near the school.

“Safe Routes to Schools usually tailors to elementary and middle schools,” Brubaker said. “But even if the school isn’t getting Safe Routes to Schools funding directly, there are still benefits for everyone.”

A different pot of SRTS funding is paying for a sidewalk to be installed on Elm Street that will connect Weaver Street to Carrboro Elementary.

That sidewalk and the action plan, which should be completed this fall, will likely be in the spotlight during the 2010-11 school year, when yet another SRTS project gets underway.

“The town will be working with the school system and Carrboro Elementary to have two ‘Walk To School’ days,” Brubaker said. “We’ll be making big events to get students to walk to school.”

Brubaker said several other projects currently underway will complement these SRTS projects. The sidewalk and bike lane construction near McDougle School on Old Fayetteville Road, for example, will make the schools more accessible for families and students who live in that area.

Further into the future, several sections of the Bolin Creek Greenway will open up walking and biking pathways to a number of schools throughout the school district, including Seawell Elementary, Smith Middle and Chapel Hill High. Frank Porter Graham Elementary will eventually benefit from a section of the Morgan Creek Greenway, which will run right by the school, providing a safe way to navigate the often-congested N.C. 54-Smith Level Road junction.

Having biking and walking routes to school seems natural for a town as pedestrian and bike friendly as Carrboro, but SRTS is growing nationally, as it also helps address the problem of childhood obesity, which has come into the national spotlight.

“That’s certainly one of the reasons we’re excited about this – how we can make biking and walking to school a part of the solution to that national problem,” said Brubaker.

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