Six
Hamtramck schools will share in $947,000 awarded to the city for "Safe Routes to School." The monies will be used toward some infrastructure -- like street speed monitor displays and signage -- and in-school programs that work to engage children and their parents in the benefits of walking and biking to school.
Mike Maisner, the vice president of active communities for the
Michigan Fitness Foundation says that education and programming is key to making Safe Routes work. "We want to encourage the kids and get them energized, get them talking to their friends," he says. "We really need to engage the entire community to get people
thinking about it -- part
of it is a mindset, recognizing the benefits."
And those benefits are many. First and foremost, Safe Routes works to make physical activity a regular routine in students lives. Another reason the state is pushing the program -- a total of 41 schools across the state received funding for this coming year -- is for air quality improvement. The goal, Maisner says, is "not having mom or dad drive so many children to
school even though they live a quarter-mile, a half-mile away."
Safety concerns are alleviated by getting parents and area businesses involved.
Maisner calls Safe Routes an "important component" of a larger pedestrian and cycling picture that includes bike lanes, trails and greenways. Funding for the program is 100 percent federal, with no local match required.
Twelve Detroit schools and three in Highland Park will also participate in the program in the coming year.
Source: Ben Kohrman, office of Lt. Gov. John Cherry and Mike Maisner, Michigan Fitness Foundation
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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