Longtime Safe Routes to School advocate Larry LeDoux was named Superintendent of Kodiak Island Borough School district in March 2017. As a former member of the borough Assembly, Mr. LeDoux was largely responsible for seeing three critical infrastructure items identified in the Safe Routes plan made it to the state legislative capital improvement projects (CIP) list for the 2017 legislative session. (See how the CIP program works)
The three proposed projects include (1) purchase and installation of lighted automatic crosswalks at two dangerous intersections (2) separated pathways to allow students to walk and bike to North Star elementary, the hazards of which are currently mitigated through costly additional bus routes and (3) a reconfiguration of the parking and drop-off area at East Elementary. The projects total $4.8M. Though Alaska's budget realities may preclude this or any project being funded in the coming year, we feel the 2017 CIP list is a significant accomplishment of ITN's Safe Routes program and intend to ensure these infrastructure projects remain a community priority. We look forward to working with Mr. LeDoux and the Kodiak Island Borough School district to make it safe for Kodiak students to walk and bike to school, and to encourage them to do so. |
About Safe Routes to School
Mission: Safe Routes to School is a nationwide movement to encourage more students to safely walk or bike to school. The Kodiak SR2S program was launched by ITN in 2012 to assess how often students in grades K-8 are walking or bicycling to school, identifying barriers to doing so and, to the extent possible, remove those barriers. In 2013 our Safe Routes to Schools Plan was published and adopted by the Kodiak school board.
In 2014 we received funding to begin carrying out the plan, and to empower our community to address barriers that inhibit students from walking and biking to school. In addition to helping address health problems related to sedentary behavior among children, the program aims to help reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution in the vicinity of schools. Resources for Parents:
Call to Action:
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The Plan:
Click here to download in pdf.
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New PSA Campaign Targets Drivers and Walkers
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