Bicknell resident urges council to pursue Safe Routes to School grants for new elementary

Tom, a Bicknell resident, told the Bicknell Town Council on March 6 that the state’s Safe Routes to School program offers grant money and training the town should pursue in light of construction for a new elementary school. He said he would volunteer to attend an April seminar and report back to the council.

The council heard that the school’s site plan “stops abruptly at the edge of the roadways,” and that sidewalks, crosswalks and signage will likely be needed on Center Street, Main Street and adjacent roads. Tom said the Utah Safe Routes to School grants can pay for both infrastructure (for example, sidewalks and crosswalks) and non‑infrastructure items (for example, signage and education campaigns) and urged the council to “learn how to apply for both the infrastructure and non infrastructure” opportunities.

Why it matters: Council members said they want to coordinate with the school district and Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) because jurisdiction for improvements will differ depending on the right‑of‑way. The council discussed morning bus patterns, congestion and how buses will access the site, and noted early‑morning commercial traffic on nearby routes.

Council members did not take formal action at the meeting but encouraged Tom’s participation in the April seminar and asked staff to pursue coordination with the school district and UDOT. Tom said he would “travel to the region 4 seminar and ask a lot of questions and learn as much as we can and then figure out how to put that grant package together.”

Details from the meeting: Tom said the school superintendent previously told him the district expects the town to take responsibility for some signage. Council members asked whether bus drop‑offs would use Center Street or other local streets and whether parent drop‑off and bus flow had been defined in the district plans. A participant summarized the district plan’s depiction of parent and bus drop locations; the council noted the need to avoid left turns by buses into oncoming traffic during busy morning commercial vehicle flows.

Next steps noted at the meeting included coordinating among the town, the school district and UDOT; having Tom or another representative attend the April Safe Routes training; and returning recommendations to the council for possible grant application and budget planning.