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Town Awarded $190,000 To Get Kids Moving
By Keith Hagarty
Brick has talked the talk. Now officials hope young people will walk the walk.
The township's initiative to build sidewalks, improve safety and encourage children to walk to school was made a little easier this week when the Township Council unanimously approved the acceptance of a $190,000 grant as part of the state's Safe Routes To School (SRTS) program.
The funds were awarded to the township by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) program and will go towards the Midstreams Elementary School's SRTS program.
A key aspect of the project includes the construction of sidewalks and curbing along Midstream's Road, Meridian Drive, Colonial Drive, Riverpark Drive and Orion Drive, as well as providing upgrades to the surrounding area through pavement striping, painting and installation of signs and stepped up enforcement of traffic safety.
According to the council's official acceptance, the implementation of the grant "will allow the township and the school district to construct the needed changes to create a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, and encourage a healthy lifestyle through encouraging children to walk to school on a daily basis."
Over the past six months, the township planning staff coordinated their grant efforts with the assistance of the Township Board of Education, the township Engineering office, the traffic safety division, the Ocean County Office of Engineering and the NJDOT's Safe Routes to School statewide program.
According to the council, the township developed a multi-disciplinary proposal incorporating programmatic elements as well as infrastructure improvements for the elementary school.
Enacted on the federal, state and local level, the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program was created to encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school, with the hope of making increased physical activities a safe and appealing option to get to and from school.
The statewide program focuses on four primary elements: engineering, enforcement, education and encouragement.
"This is a great grant program," said Mayor Stephen Acropolis. "Walking to school has so many benefits for the students and the community, and this grant helps making walking or riding a bike to school safer and easier."
Last week, the township hosted a New Jersey Safe Routes to School Leadership Training workshop designed to train lead- ers from all the municipalities which were awarded SRTS grants or who have existing SRTS programs in their municipalities.
The workshop was co-sponsored by the NJDOT, the Federal Highway Administration, Rutgers University, Allan Voorhees Transportation Center and the transportation planning consulting firm, the RBA Group.
Staff representatives from the township's planning, engineering and traffic safety departments all attended the workshop.
Acropolis was thrilled the township not only received the substantial grant, but also had the opportunity to host the workshop.
"The training also provided leaders with tools to evaluate the success of their programs and ideas towards addressing the unique needs of each community," he said.
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