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Farmington committee plans Safe Routes school audits, targets $5,000 microgrant for helmets and calls for ebike policy discussion
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Summary
Committee members arranged meetings with school officials to begin Safe Routes audits, discussed using a DOT microgrant (about $5,000) to buy helmets and visibility items, and raised concerns about high‑speed e‑bikes on trails and the need for policy/education.
The Town of Farmington Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee discussed Safe Routes to School audits, microgrants and bike‑safety outreach during its April 8 meeting.
A committee member said they will meet with the superintendent and curriculum director Eric Martin after the April break to initiate on‑site and off‑site Safe Routes audits and to explore integrating the Safe Routes curriculum into schools. Bridget Bocotte from the Connecticut Department of Transportation was identified as the DOT contact who conducts the free audits; the DOT audit requires a sign‑off from a school administrator to proceed. "They said they just need somebody from the school administration to sign off on the audit," the member said.
Members proposed auditing Union School as an initial, bike‑friendly site and auditing Irving Robins/East Farms as a more challenging candidate; the committee noted an audit report would arrive in about two months and could strengthen future grant applications.
Donald briefed the committee on the Connecticut DOT Safe Routes microgrant program and said the program typically caps awards at about $5,000 and runs another round near the end of the fiscal year in June. The committee discussed applying for helmets and visibility items ("blinkies" or slap bracelets) and suggested a sample split of about $4,000 for helmets and $1,000 for visibility gear; members agreed Donald will gather cost/spec information and vendor contacts (including outreach to Amy at Watch for Me) to include in an application.
At the outreach update, Bike Walk Farmington members and other speakers raised safety concerns about high‑power e‑bikes on trails; one member warned that some e‑bikes function more like electric motorcycles and said they pose a safety risk. Committee members discussed clarifying policy language for permitted classes of e‑bikes (class 1 and class 2) and increasing education and school‑based messaging to influence rider behavior.
The committee did not take a formal vote on grant application details at the meeting; members assigned follow‑up tasks to produce specifications and to set up school meetings for audits.
