County seeks public input on countywide Safe Routes to School Plan

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LAKE COUNTY – Lake County is in the process of developing a countywide Safe Routes to School plan. The purpose of the plan is to make walking and biking to all of Lake County's schools safer.


The plan will also make the county more competitive when applying for safe routes to school grant funding.


“Helping children to be safe and physically fit is a major component of this project. We are working very hard to improve the quality of life for everyone in Lake County, and the Safe Routes to School Plan helps move us towards that goal,” said Lisa Davey-Bates, executive director, Lake County/City Area Planning Council (APC).


Three workshops are planned for mid and late February. Parents, school administrators, teachers and community members are invited to attend and provide feedback about challenges that keep children from walking and biking to school.


Parents will have the chance to identify barriers and areas of concern on maps. Children are welcome, and a special children’s mapping station will be set up for them to participate in the project as well.


Three workshops will be held at:



For parents unavailable on these workshop dates, there will be an opportunity to meet with the consultant team at your school while they are conducting pedestrian safety audits of the schools in February and March. The consultant will notify your school as specific dates for the safety audits are scheduled.


In addition, parents are invited to take an online survey. The purpose of this survey is to learn from parents about their thoughts and concerns related to children traveling to school. This survey will be used to focus the plan on solving real problems facing families with schoolchildren. Parent surveys can be found on the APC website: http://www.lakeapc.org/ (see “parent survey” link on the right side of the Web page).


The State of California Safe Routes to Schools Program currently has $48.5 million available for funding school project statewide.


“Funding is available for school traffic safety projects, and having this plan in place will make us more competitive in obtaining money to build projects,” said Terri Persons, project manager for the APC. “We are eager to complete a plan that successfully addresses community concerns, so we can move to implementing projects as soon as possible.”


The APC is the Regional Transportation Planning Agency for the Lake County region. More information about the council can be found on the Web site, www.lakeapc.org/.


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