City Receives Grant For Safe Routes To Schools

By Tammy Gray-Searles
   A $248,531 grant has been awarded to the City of Holbrook to improve the safety of sidewalks and crosswalks near schools.
   The Safe Routes to School Grant will fund construction of sidewalks and curb ramps, purchase and installation of solar-powered speed limit warning signs, and bicycle racks near Park Elementary School, Hulet Elementary School, Holbrook Junior High School and Holbrook High School.
   City Grants Administrator Darlene Fraley explained that, with the assistance of Chief of Police DWayne Hartup, as well as the Holbrook Unified District and the Navajo County Health Department, the city submitted an application for the grant several months ago. They did not expect to hear results until May, but learned last Thursday that the city had been successful in obtaining the grant.
   Fraley noted that the funds will help repair, replace and install sidewalks near all of the schools, in order to provide safe walking routes to school. A group of city, school and county representatives walked several of the blocks around the schools prior to submitting the grant to determine what areas were most in need of work. In addition to repairs and replacement, the sidewalks will be brought into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act through the installation of ADA accessible curb ramps.
   Lighted signs, using solar power, will be placed at the ends of the Buffalo and Erie Street school corridors to help remind drivers to slow down and watch for students crossing the street. Fraley noted that the city also hopes to paint highly visible crosswalks to increase student safety.
   Funds for the project are being distributed through the Arizona Department of Transportation, which noted that the Safe Routes to School project was “created by the U.S. Congress to make it safer and easier for elementary and middle school students to walk and bicycle to school, in an effort to counteract the epidemic of obesity and diabetes in this country…
   “Since the 1960s childhood obesity has quadrupled. A contributing factor is the general decline in physical activity. Some health experts are predicting that the lifespan of many children will be less than their parents due to weight-related diseases.
   “Barriers to walking and bicycling can include busy streets, neighborhoods with poor connections to schools, and large schools that are distant from residential neighborhoods.”
   Fraley said she felt that Holbrook was an ideal candidate for the grant, and she was optimistic about the city’s chances of receiving funding.
   “I’m just so excited,” she said. “We can really use this and it will make such a difference.”
   Other grant recipients include Springerville, the Yavapai-Apache Nation near Camp Verde, Prescott, Gilbert and Phoenix.