CCP 11-27-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. <H~~ Minnesota Safe Routes to School Program . , "" ,'/' <0 i" " &ello, .....:::.......(/;i- :"." ". " SCHOOL The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) is pleased to announce the opening of the second Safe Routes to School solicitation. In our first solicitation the program received 76 applications requesting $8 million improvements. Seventeen communities in Minnesota received grants totaling $1,7 million. The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program. created by the Federal Surface Transportation act, establishes a grant program providing communities with the opportunity to improve conditions for bicycling and walking to school. The goals of the program are threefold: (1) to enable and encourage children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school; (2) to make bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation alternative, thereby encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle from an early age; and (3) to facilitate the planning, development, and implementation of projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption, and air pollution in the vicinity of schools, At present, fewer than 15% of children K-8 walk or bike to school and nearly 50% of school aged children are regularly driven to school by their parents, Coinciding with the declining numbers of children walking and biking to school is an increase in childhood obesity and Type II diabetes. .he grants are available for schools with any combination of K-8 enrollment. Funds are to be used to ake infrastructure improvements, such as bike racks and sidewalks, and for noninfastructure programs such as developing Safe Routes Plans, enforcement, and promoting biking and walking to and from school. This solicitation is making a minimum of $1,3 million available for infrastructure projects and $250,000 for non-infrastructure projects. The grant ranges for individual projects are: . $10,000 - $175,000 for infrastructure projects . $10,000 - $20,000 for single school non-infrastructure projects . $20,000 - $50,000 for a multiple school non-infrastructure projects Safe Routes to School projects are funded at 100% with no local match required. The SRTS Program is a reimbursable grant program meaning that recipients of the funds will front the cost of the project and will be reimbursed during the course of the project. All costs submitted for reimbursement are subject to eligibility requirements. Safe Routes grants may be applied for by: . Schools, public & private . Non-Profits . School districts . Metropolitan Planning Organizations . Parent/teacher organizations, . Regional development Commissions . Tribes . Other educational organizations . Local governments .