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Royal Oak adopts Safe Routes to School resolution to pursue federal grant funding
Summary
The commission adopted a resolution supporting Safe Routes to School, a grant program that could provide up to $300,000 in infrastructure funding and $15,000 in programmatic funding per school; staff and volunteers are conducting walking audits to gather data for an anticipated February grant application.
Commissioner Cheesham presented a resolution endorsing Royal Oak’s participation in the Safe Routes to School program, which funds infrastructure and programmatic improvements to make walking, biking and rolling to school safer.
Cheesham described the program as both infrastructure- and program-focused: “This funding can yield $300,000 in infrastructure funding, per school, and $15,000 in programmatic funding per school,” she said. The initiative is tied to the city’s master plan, aging-in-place plan and sustainability/climate action plan, and staff are already collecting data through surveys and walking audits. Cheesham noted school leaders, including the new public-school superintendent (Dr. Kopolsky), and several private schools have engaged with the effort.
Commissioners discussed volunteer walking audits and community outreach; staff invited residents to participate in scheduled audit days. The commission moved and adopted the resolution to advance the city’s application and local outreach work.
Outcome: Resolution adopted; staff will continue data collection and prepare materials for a grant proposal anticipated in February.
