Schools

Creating Safer Routes To Montclair Schools

This article has been submitted by Alex Kent, the Safe Routes To School coordinator in Montclair

 

If you have driven by the Renaissance at Rand School, you can’t help but notice the eye-catching improvements designed to slow down motorists and enhance the safety of all the children and adults in this busy area. Indeed, this is the place where Renaissance and Montclair High School converge and where the Montclair Co-op School is just at the top of the hill, along with the tennis and basketball courts across the street. It is a VERY busy intersection!  

You can’t miss the speed monitor signs that clock your vehicle’s speed, or the new lighting, powered by solar panels, the walker friendly sidewalks, the shiny crosswalks, and the bright yellow pedestrian crossing signs in the street. All these pedestrian friendly enhancements came about as a result of a grant the school received from New Jersey’s Safe Routes to School program. 

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Now all the Montclair elementary and middle schools can look forward to getting the same treatment! Montclair has been awarded a Safe Routes to School grant that encompasses all 10 schools. The grant provides funding for the 4 “E”s: Education and Encouragement, Engineering, and Enforcement.

The first two parts—Education and Enforcement—are being headed up by Alex Kent, who has just begun work as the township’s Safe Routes to School coordinator. She will be working with every school to encourage children to walk or bike to school. As part of the project, a Safe Routes to School professional will be spending a day at each school to assess the area, survey school commuting habits, talk to students and parents, and help formulate maps and routes that will help children power themselves to school safely. The workshops will encourage parents to organize Walking School Buses and Bike Trains so that children can travel in a supervised group. They will also be looking for parental feedback on problems encountered in walking and biking. 

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Any issues pertaining to unsafe road crossings, sidewalks, and logistical issues, will be passed on to Township Engineer Kimberli Craft, who is overseeing the “Engineering” part of the grant—structural improvements to the school area roads to make them pedestrian and bike friendly.

The final “E”—Enforcement—includes funding for the Montclair Police Department to enforce traffic rules in the vicinity of schools. These rules include yielding for pedestrians in crosswalks and obeying school area speed limits.

Along with other local organizations like BikeWalkMontclair, Eat, Play, Live…. Better!, and the Montclair Schools Health and Wellness Partnership, Montclair is working towards helping our children get more fresh air and exercise while reducing traffic, and building community as you get to know your neighbors on the walk to school.

Remember, you’re not stuck in traffic, you ARE the traffic! Mark you calendars for the inaugural National Bike to School Day, on May 9! For more information email akent@montclairnjusa.org.


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